Only One Side is Trying to Stop Political Violence
Political Violence is spiraling. We examined how each Party responded to various political attacks. The statements show that one side is much less interested in unifying the country than the other.
Opinion
Last Wednesday, on Sept. 10th, far-right influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a College Event in Utah. It was the latest despicable act in a fresh series of political violence.
In a previous post, I talked about how political violence skyrocketed with Trump’s arrival in politics. Many Americans are left wondering how the country can escape this dangerous spiral of violence. While the answer to this lies beyond the grasp of this article, it is certain that de-escalation and a toning down of rhetoric from both sides is required, but is it really a “both sides” problem when it comes to rhetoric?
Democrats' and Republicans' responses to attacks on the opposite side are vastly different, depending on who the victim is. The next paragraphs will show that while Democrats are quick to post unifying messages, Republicans tend to add fuel to the fire.
I took a look at 4 different cases of political violence: The first attempt on Donald Trump’s life, the assault of Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the assassination of Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortmann, and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
I’ve chosen those four because they are equally divided. Twice, a Republican was the target and twice, a Democrat was. On both sides, one assault resulted in the killing of the targeted person. Let’s take a look at the responses.
For statistical purposes, A large majority of political violence comes from far-right extremists. Far-left violence is exceedingly rare.
Reactions From Democrats & Republicans When to Political Violence
Let’s look at how politicians and activists of each side reacted when someone from the other side of the political spectrum was the victim of political violence.
Below are the responses to two separate incidents. On the left, you’ll find Democrats’ reactions to the attempted assassination of Republican President Donald Trump in 2024. On the right, you’ll find Republicans’ reactions to the attack on Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.
The first incident is known around the world, but for those who are unaware of the attack on Paul Pelosi, here’s a quick summary: On Oct. 28th, 2022, a far-right conspiracy theorist broke into the home of the Democratic Speaker of the US House, Nancy Pelosi, with the goal to take her hostage. Luckily, Nancy Pelosi wasn’t at home. Sadly, her husband, Paul Pelosi, was. The Intruder attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, leaving him with a fractured skull. The police arrested the attacker at the scene.
Now, let’s look at the reactions to both incidents:
As you can see on the left, high-ranking Democrats like President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi harshly condemned the attempt on Trump’s life. Liberal influencers, like TV host Stephen Colbert, also issued statements of grief.
When it came to the attack on Paul Pelosi, Republicans didn’t manage to bring up the same respect. Instead of using rhetoric to unify the country and condemn violence, they mocked Paul Pelosi, the victim of the attack. The most striking comment came from Donald Trump Jr., who taunted Pelosi with a post on Twitter you can see below. Far-Right activist Charlie Kirk went a step further and asked for a “hero” who could bail the attacker out of jail.
The two incidents illustrate how differently both parties respond when the other side is hit with despicable violence. While Democrats condemned violence and tried to unify the country, Republicans used the act of violence against Paul Pelosi to mock the other side.
The Assassinations of Charlie Kirk & Melissa Hortman
The assassination of Republican activist Charlie Kirk shows a similar picture when compared to the assassination of Democratic Representative Melissa Hortman, who was killed in her home this summer by a far-right attacker who made a hit list of prominent Minnesota Democrats, including Gov. Tim Walz.
Again, on the left, you’ll find the statements of condemnation, with Pres. Biden saying, “It must end now”, Fmr. Speaker Pelosi called the attack “reprehensible,” and activist Dean Withers, a longtime rival of Kirk, called it “sick, deplorable, and incredibly sad.” Those statements are in line with the unifying responses of Democrats after the attempt on Trump’s life.
When Democrat Melissa Hortman was the victim of political violence this June, many Republicans declined to issue such warm statements, and some instead echoed conspiracy theories.
Both Rep. Van Orden and Senator Mike Lee pushed the conspiracy that the shooter was a far-left communist, a claim that was debunked by law enforcement officials. Sen. Lee deleted the posts after being confronted by his Democratic colleague, Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, on the Senate floor.
And what about President Trump? After an initial statement in which he unspecifically condemned political violence, he refused to spend time on the case. He refused to call Gov. Walz of Minnesota and said it would be a “waste of time”. Neither did he attend the funeral.
Such an Imbalance Won’t Unify America
This imbalance in the responses, with Democrats trying to condemn and Republicans openly mocking violent acts, can’t heal the rift in America’s society. How can both sides find each other and heal, if only one party is ready to condemn political violence, while the other uses it to push conspiracies?
Sooner or later, Democrats will feel betrayed by this imbalance. Sooner or later, Democrats might stop showing the kind of empathy that they showed for Charlie Kirk and his young family, because when it happens to them, Republicans do not seem to care at all. Rather, as the assassination of Charlie Kirk has shown, some Republicans seem eager to use these acts of violence to further divide the country.
While the motives of the shooter are still unclear, Fox News hosts like Jesse Waters repeatedly used terms like “they”. They shot Charlie Kirk. They are at war with us. This is not the kind of rhetoric that helps to unite the country, especially since we don’t exactly know the motives of Kirk's murderer (He is a 22-year-old, white man who grew up in a Republican, pro-gun family).
What we do know is this: When it comes to political violence, Democrats are the ones who are trying to unify, while Republicans have, over and over again, mocked, downplayed, and lied about political attacks on Democrats.
Picture Credits
Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore
Nancy Pelosi by John Harrington
Charlie Kirk by Gage Skidmore
