On July 13, a would-be assassin shot Donald Trump.
Trump survived, the bullet just grazing his ear.
Within hours of the attempt on the former president and Republican presidential nominee’s life, Democrats and like-minded pundits agreed: It’s time for the man who was shot in the face to tone down his rhetoric. After all, they reasoned, hateful rhetoric begets a rifle to the head.
This is contemptible victim-blaming. It’s “he had it coming,” but with extra steps.
Why did Trump make that man shoot him?
It’s also worth noting that the team calling on Trump to lower the temperature has itself a love for incendiary rhetoric — speech it would otherwise condemn as “hateful” and “violent” were it to come from anyone else. They openly fantasize about Trump’s death and suffering, as well as the death and suffering of his supporters. They defend and even encourage acts of violence against political opponents, including conservatives who oppose Trump and MAGA-style politics. They accuse Trump and others of being incarnations of Adolf Hitler. The list goes on.
Weirdly, after the July 13 assassination attempt, there has been exactly zero introspection from this team regarding whether they should tone down their rhetoric. They’ve been too busy policing the would-be victim’s tone.
They do understand civility goes both ways, right? Physician, heal thyself.
In 2023, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said on MSNBC, “It is just unquestionable at this point that that man cannot see public office again. He is not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy, and he has to be, he has to be eliminated.”
President Joe Biden, who ran on a platform of “decency” and “empathy,” said recently of his Republican opponent, “Trump is a threat to this nation.”
His campaign team tweeted, “Americans want a president, not a dictator.”
Elsewhere, Biden allegedly remarked, “It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) once referred to Trump as a cult leader. He then took it a step further and injected an extra dose of religion into his invective, saying in a warning to would-be Trump supporters, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.”
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) once pledged to “take out” Trump.
Former Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill claimed Trump is “even worse” than Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
More recently, and just moments after the assassination attempt, a now-former congressional staffer for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) posted on social media, “Get some shooting lessons so he don’t miss next time.” Notably, Thompson spearheaded an effort earlier this year to strip Trump of his Secret Service detail.
In 2016, former GOP strategist turned Democratic strategist and MSNBC darling Rick Wilson casually remarked on national television, “You just have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump.”
Then, of course, there’s the entertainment industry, which is overwhelmingly left-wing. Madonna, 65, tweeted after Trump won in 2016 that she wanted to “blow up the White House.” Later, Peter Fonda called for Trump’s youngest son, Barron, to be put in a “cage with pedophiles.” Barron was 12 at the time.
After the attack on Trump on Saturday, the band Tenacious D, co-headed by Democratic surrogate and donor Jack Black, drew headlines for a crack about the assassination attempt. Black presented bandmate Kyle Gass with a birthday cake and asked him to “make a wish.” Gass responded, “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
The New Republic published an issue this year titled “American Fascism,” featuring Trump made up in the likeness of Hitler.
Etcetera, etcetera.
It’s absurd to suggest Trump bears responsibility for his own near-murder. It’s blame-shifting and pure nonsense. People are responsible for themselves and their own actions. The would-be assassin has agency.
Moreover, if we are to believe Trump’s “hateful” and “violent” rhetoric somehow incited a 20-year-old gunman, which is the line embraced by Democrats and their supporters, then wouldn’t it also be true the Left’s “hateful” and “violent” anti-Trump rhetoric incited a 20-year-old gunman?
Democrats are correct when they say tempers need to cool. Agreed. They should definitely get their people under control.
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And yet, just two days after the failed assassination of Trump, a new poll showed one-third of Democratic voters believe the GOP nominee staged his own attempted assassination. I don’t know about you, but I don’t suspect the team that believes such a wild theory intends to tone down its rhetoric.
Call it a hunch.
Becket Adams is a columnist for the Washington Examiner, National Review, and the Hill. He is also the program director of the National Journalism Center.