This is how it starts.
Mike Nellis at Endless Urgency:
There was an extremely scary situation this weekend at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. A lone gunman attempted to break into the ballroom and attack Trump administration officials and others in the room. We should start this rant with what I believe to be obvious: political violence at any level is wrong and should be condemned. I condemn this shooter, and anyone who would pick up a gun with the intent of killing another person shares no ideology with me.
That said, I am once again beyond frustrated watching the modern-day Republican Party act like they have the moral high ground to lecture anybody about political violence and rhetoric. Mere seconds after the shooting, before we knew anything about what had happened, the MAGA movement went full steam ahead—attacking their political opponents and assigning blame in an attempt to create an environment where you can no longer criticize their favorite president. It didn’t take long for the talking points to come out of the White House, and they burned whatever sympathy they may have had trying to convince the American people that we need to build Donald Trump’s stupid, gaudy ballroom. It’s ridiculous. If it happened on an episode of Veep, I’d roll my eyes and think it was too on the nose. But here we are, because some of the worst possible people are leading, governing, and influencing this country at a time when so many people are struggling. I want to focus on a line from the shooter’s manifesto that Donald Trump was asked about in a 60 Minutes interview, where the alleged attacker called him a pedophile, a rapist, and a traitor. The MAGA movement has decided that anyone who has used those words is somehow responsible for this shooting. That’s ludicrous. So let’s break it down.
Let’s start with “pedophile.” At a minimum, Donald Trump is a pedophile protector. He has refused to release the Epstein files, and it’s been like pulling teeth to get the truth about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who he’s been photographed with repeatedly. He’s denied key parts of that relationship, and his administration has slow-walked or refused to release the unredacted files—what has come out has largely been forced by a bipartisan effort in Congress. He’s surrounded himself with people tied to Epstein, people who have downplayed or lied about those relationships. So yes—when the truth is still hidden, and when someone acts like they have something to hide, it is reasonable for people to ask questions. What is not reasonable is picking up a gun and trying to kill people.
Now let’s talk about “rapist.” It’s not a word I use lightly, but Donald Trump claimed he was exonerated in the E. Jean Carroll case on CBS last night. That’s simply not true. He was found liable by a jury for sexual assault and defamation and ordered to pay tens of millions of dollars. So yes, people are going to draw conclusions from that. That’s before you even get into the other allegations, the Epstein connections, or the things Trump himself has said about women over the years—on Howard Stern, at pageants, and elsewhere. At a minimum, it is not unreasonable for Americans to question his behavior and character. And then there’s “traitor.” Not a word I use often, but again, people are going to ask questions. Because when a president consistently acts in ways that benefit himself first—financially, politically, personally—and appears to prioritize foreign relationships or deals that enrich him, people notice.
He wraps himself in the flag, but his actions often point somewhere else. From questionable foreign deals to personal enrichment while Americans struggle, it creates a very real perception problem. And people are allowed to question that. When there’s no accountability at the highest levels, when power is used without consequence, it sets a tone. It creates an environment where things escalate. That doesn’t justify violence—but it shows how dangerous that failure is and why leadership matters.
When Robert Mueller died, Donald Trump said, “Good riddance.” When Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked, the MAGA movement mocked him—including members of Trump’s own family. They won’t even say Melissa Hortman’s name after she was murdered. They invent conspiracy theories so they don’t have to confront the consequences of their own rhetoric. They don’t want to talk about the plot against Gretchen Whitmer. They don’t want to talk about attacks on Democratic officials. They want to pretend political violence only goes one way. It doesn’t. And when it clearly doesn’t, they just make something up.
[...] You have the right to criticize the president of the United States. You have the right to ask questions about the Epstein files. You have the right to talk about the accusations against him, including the case where he was found liable for sexual assault. You have the right to question where his loyalties lie. That is your right as an American. What you do not have the right to do is use violence against other people. Not in politics. Not anywhere.
Not the people who stormed the Capitol and beat police officers. Not the people who attack political offices or elected officials. Not the people who commit acts of violence in the name of politics—be it against a Democrat like Melissa Hortman or a Republican like Charlie Kirk. None of it. You have the right to speak. To organize. To protest. To vote. So keep doing that. Keep showing up. Keep speaking out. Keep doing the work. My favorite Benjamin Franklin quote: “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” In this country, that rebellion is peaceful. It happens at the ballot box. We solve this in November.
@Mike Nellis says it like it is here: we will NOT be lectured by bad-faith pearl-clutching faux outraged MAGA hacks about political violence and rhetoric, as they have long forgone the “moral high ground” and themselves have championed violent rhetoric (eg. Paul Pelosi, January 6th, etc.).
See Also:
JoJoFromJerz: Spare Me the Bullshit About “Lowering the Temperature”
