Since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, American leftists have reminded us who they really are: small-minded, bubble-dwelling, tantrum-throwing brats. Like nasty grade-school children, leftists vilify their opponents because, first and foremost, leftists want to hurt anyone who disagrees with them—and by calling someone “Nazi” or “fascist,” it destroys any possibility of actual debate. After all, “Nazi” and “fascist” are synonymous with evil-doing, and suggests that this someone is a serious threat to individuals, the nation, and civilization itself.

Weak-minded persons with savior complexes — such as Kirk’s alleged murderer Tyler Robinson, Butler, PA sniper Thomas Matthew Crooks, recently convicted would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh, and left-wing heartthrob and alleged killed Luigi Mangione — take such language seriously and subsequently act to eliminate the perceived threat.  In the case of Kirk and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, that “threat” is neutralized.

So when American Leftists pretend that Kamala Harris calling Trump a  “fascist" or Joe Biden comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler is not meant to incite anger, they are being disingenuous at best. Consciously or not, leftists understand that their unrelenting, hate-filled rhetoric stokes anger and violent tendencies in their own adherents.

And heated, leftist rhetoric is not new.  For example, in 2008, at a Democrat fundraiser, Obama said “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”  In a 2016 Get Out the Vote PSA, actor Robert DeNiro famously ranted that Trump is “a punk, he’s a dog, he’s a pig… I’d like to punch him in the face.”  In 2017 Missouri state senator, Democrat Maria Chappelle-Nadal, posted “I hope Trump is assassinated!” on her Facebook page. 

The list goes on and on.

Yet leftists insist their language doesn’t cause others to act violently.  Such denial is both implausible and self-serving.  After all, campus leftists claim words can be violence: in their view, misgendering someone is assault. Yet when leftists spew hate-filled rhetoric, they insist they are simply expressing deeply held feelings. Then they hide behind the fire-wall of the First Amendment. But their insults are not innocent “speech.” Their rancid rhetoric is meant to attack and vilify their opponents. And vilification is always the first step toward eradication. If you can make people believe the opposition is evil, violence against them is justified. And inevitable.

Consider how Hitler’s Third Reich vilified the Jews for years before loading them on to trains and shipping them to extermination camps.

And, speaking of Nazis, it was Adolf Hitler who used the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party, the notorious “Brown Shirts” to facilitate his rise to power. The Brown Shirts rioted and brawled in the streets, silenced opposition, and destroyed public confidence in the Weimar Republic’s ability to maintain order. In June 1932, Brown Shirts were involved in hundreds of street brawls resulting in over 80 deaths. The deployment of Antifa during the BLM riots echoes Hitler’s use of the Brown Shirts.

Despite their denials, leftists are well aware their language serves both as an incitement to violence and a warning to the opposition.

Consider, in 2021, when Maxine Waters urged her followers to “get more confrontational” if Derek Chauvin were not convicted in the death of George Floyd. Spoken several months after the 2020 riots, “get more confrontational” was a thinly veiled threat — do what we want or we will hurt you, and you’ve already seen what we are willing to do. However Waters, in typical leftist fashion, insisted she was “non-violent” and explained that Republicans were erroneously interpreting her words.

Right.

And, don’t forget, leftists labelled the 2020 riots — riots where at least 34 died and cities were destroyed — “mostly peaceful protests.”  Like spoiled children, leftists believe that if they are angry they have the right to throw tantrums, break things, and hurt people.

Such an attitude explains why leftists rhetoric has been so unhinged since the Kirk assassination. They can’t admit their language incited murder and still pretend to be the good guys. So they shift blame away from the deranged, recently-radicalized leftist suspect (Robinson) to MAGA Republicans, or, even more shamefully, onto Mr. Kirk himself.

For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while speaking against a congressional resolution honoring Kirk, said this, with no evidence to back up her accusations:

We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was: a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted Black Americans the right to vote was a ‘mistake,’ who after the violent attack on Paul Pelosi claimed that ‘some amazing patriot out there’ should bail out his assailant, and accused Jews of controlling … the colleges …the nonprofits… the movies,… Hollywood.’ His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans – far from ‘working tirelessly to promote unity’ as asserted by the majority in this resolution.

Similarly, late-night leftist Jimmy Kimmel glibly opined, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

For the record, the “kid” is 22 years old.

To be fair, authorities had not determined the killer’s motive when Kimmel made his smear, although the idea that a MAGA follower would assassinate the man largely responsible for bringing the youth-vote out for Trump is patently absurd.  And no one was “desperately trying to characterize this kid” as a left-wing extremist. No one had to. His leanings were obvious. The morning after Kimmel’s rant, authorities released text messages from Robinson to his reported lover that established Robinson as a radicalized leftist angered and threatened by Kirk’s popularity and Christian message.

The cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live! by 62 network affiliates the morning after  Kimmel’s smear caused woke corporation Disney to suspend the late-night host’s show. However, after making a public apology for his insult/misinformation-rant, Mr. Kimmel’s show is back on the air.

And recently, after months of leading Democrat politicians calling ICE officers “Gestapo”, and, in some cases, actually interfering with ICE operations, another shooter opened fire on an ICE van killing one detainee and wounding two others before killing himself. Since the incident, authorities have uncovered extensive evidence of the shooter’s careful planning and his determination to kill ICE agents.

Coincidence? Lone Gunman? Or another individual egged on by leftist rhetoric that, literally, goes ballistic….

Words come before violence.

Leftists publicly painted President Trump, Charlie  Kirk, and ICE agents as evil operators. And they will continue to do so. They need to keep their thoughtless, progressive base believing their nonsensical positions and angry enough to hit the streets — and anyone who gets in their way.

A.F. Cronin lives in California. He has written for American Thinker, The Federalist, and other periodicals.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.