Yes Political Violence Is Unacceptable
But do MAGAs actually believe that?
By now you’ve heard that former President Trump suffered a wound to his ear on what appears to be an attempt on his life. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, killed an innocent bystander and put another in critical condition. Local authorities report that Crooks was killed by law enforcement.
Let’s start with the standard disclaimer. Political violence is never acceptable. We are a nation of laws and seek to advance our policies with votes at the ballot box, not with violence and bullets. That said, yes, political violence is unacceptable—but do MAGAs actually believe that? Let’s Address This.
We don't yet know shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks' motivation, but it is truly fascinating to watch the party running on the platform of pardoning the violent and deadly January 6 insurrectionists, and violently rounding up and deporting 15-20 million of immigrants, and funding the genocide in Palestine that has killed up to 186,000 per the Lancet, and celebrating the SCOTUS ruling expanding Presidential immunity to include killing a political opponent as an official act—suddenly clutch pearls at political violence and feign outrage at how we got here.
It is remarkable to watch the party who incessantly mocked the attempted murder of Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, glorified car decals of President Biden being kidnapped, bound, and gagged, and call Democrats traitors who deserve the death penalty, and whose Project 2025 founders claim that “the country is in the midst of a second American Revolution that will be bloodless if the left allows it to be,” suddenly wonder how political violence happened?
It is beyond comprehension to watch the party who passed dozens of stand your ground laws to justify murdering civilians and escalating conflicts with violence, rather than deescalate them through diplomacy, who passed dozens of anti-protestor laws justifying running over peaceful protestors with vehicles, rather than allowing law enforcement to peacefully disburse protestors, expand access to weapons of war even after mass shootings, and even for people who absolutely should not have access to them while guns become the leading cause of death for children in America—now express outrage at the political violence we witnessed this week.
I am an eternal optimist. I hope this is a wake up call for MAGAs that the last decade of violent rhetoric espoused by Donald Trump and the MAGA movement has been the most significant contributor to this point. And that’s not hyperbole. A 2020 study by ABC documented that as President, Donald Trump inspired at least 54 acts of political violence even before the January 6 insurrection, while the previous four Presidents combined inspired 0 such acts of political violence, and another study found that Trump’s vile and violent tweets resulted in massive spikes in hate crimes against marginalized communities. This is the man now surprised about the rise of political violence?
Therefore, while I am an optimist, I am also a realist. Thus, I have little faith that the MAGA movement, or Donald Trump, will have the ‘come to Jesus’ moment necessary to reform and rehabilitate. This is why it is more critical than ever before for those of us committed to political progress elevate our efforts to organize, volunteer, and elect people committed to justice and democracy. The United States has suffered through political violence before, and in that respect, this is not uncharted waters. However, standing idle is not an option. As Dr. King said, “Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”
MAGAs have made clear they believe in political violence. It is up to us to stop them with effective organizing and winning with votes at the ballot box.
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👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Thank you for your clarity & clear-eyed analysis full of irony.
And I were in charge of the House & Senate —and especially in light of random MAGA complaints that it was Pres. Biden’s rhetoric (!!!???) that caused the shooting—I’d be bring gun control and mental health legislation to the floor.
Make Trump, MAGA et al put their money where their mouths in the 24 hours are allegedly against gun violence.
And the deafening silence from GOP Representatives and Senators while and after watching their people crawling up the sides of our Capitol and attacking police defending the building....