Trump and Vance have accused Democrats of having something to do with political violence — well, a man who was found with a gun (which he never used or shot) – something that is legal for anyone but a felon to have in open public land in Florida (which has a permitless open carry law).
Trump and Vance have also accused Democrats of being involved in a “shooting” by a registered Republican in Butler, Pennsylvania June 13. Remember that there have been no photos of Trump’s injured ear (without an enormous bandage) released for 2 weeks following the Butler incident, and many people believe the entire shooting event was staged by the Trump campaign to steal the spotlight from VP Kamala Harris immediately before the Republican National Convention. When Trump was photographed and recorded weeks after June 13, Trump’s ear showed no sign of scar or damage.
These Trump/Vance accusations are absurd, and they serve as examples of Trump’s desire to be perceived as a victim instead of sharing any details of his plans for the country other than reinstating more inflationary tariffs and eliminating recent and agreed-to future price limits on prescription drugs through Medicare.
Let’s remember just a few of the times that Trump has incited or encouraged violence (links to this quoted material, which include links within them, are found below):
Older Examples of Political Violence
“There is no question that Donald Trump appears at least indifferent when his supporters engage in violence on his behalf. There are numerous examples and compilations of those examples, to an extent that barely warrants recapitulation.
“So, let’s just consider two examples that bookended his first tenure as president.
“On the campaign trail in 2015 and 2016, he actively encouraged supporters at his rallies to attack protesters. On the day of the 2016 Iowa caucuses, for example, he suggested that protesters might be planning to throw tomatoes at him. So, he said, supporters should feel free to “knock the crap out of ’em” — and that he would pay their legal costs. A few weeks later, one of his supporters attacked a protester. When subsequently asked about his promise, Trump claimed that he had never promised to pay any legal fees.
“Then there was Jan. 6, 2021. The riot that unfolded that day was not explicitly directed by Trump; at no point did he say the equivalent of “please attack Congress.” Instead, he endlessly stoked his supporters’ anger, framing his electoral loss as an attack on America itself. He called supporters to Washington, riled them up and pointed them at the Capitol. Then he sat back and watched — with apparent approval — as the finalization of his loss was delayed.
2024
“And in April 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign on Monday accused former President Donald Trump of stoking political violence after Trump shared a video on social media that included an image of Biden bound and restrained in the back of a pickup truck.
“The video Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Friday shows an SUV and pickup truck with several large flags supporting Trump and law enforcement. The image of Biden hog-tied appears on the tailgate of the pickup truck.
“‘Donald Trump is perfectly comfortable with violence when he thinks it benefits him. In fact, he encourages it. Put simply, his campaign is about itself. It’s about revenge. It’s about retribution,’ said Michael Tyler, Biden campaign’s communications director.
“‘Political violence has been and continues to be central to Donald Trump’s brand of politics,’ Tyler said. THE TAKE: Ominous language is not new for Trump, who has publicly called for jailing political opponents, suspending the Constitution, and has suggested that the top U.S. general should be executed.
“Trump has shown little remorse and no signs of self-reflection about what happened that day. In fact, he’s making and promoting the same kind of references to political violence that preceded Jan. 6.
2023
Here is another example from Tuesday, January 31, 2023: “On his Truth Social platform, Trump shared the message of a user actively encouraging physical violence on his behalf.
“Discussing a hypothetical effort to disqualify Trump from office, the user said anyone behind such an effort “will have to figure out how to fight 80,000,000 + it’s not going to happen again.”
“’People my age and old will physically fight for him this time,’ the user said. ‘What we got to lose? I’ll donate the rest of my time here on this planet to do it. And I know many many others who feel the same. They got my 6 and we Are Locked and LOADED.’
“Unlike many of Trump’s previous allusions to political violence, this one contains no real ambiguity or dual meaning that could be exploited for plausible deniability. It was a straight-up assurance that Trump supporters will ‘physically’ fight for him, en masse.
“This is only the latest instance in which Trump has gestured in this direction. Using Truth Social, in recent months he has upped his amplification of messages related to QAnon, a conspiracy theory that the FBI has linked to the threat of extremist violence and that was embraced by many Jan. 6 rioters.
“Indeed, later that month, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) predicted ‘riots in the streets‘ if the former president were prosecuted for failing to return classified documents. Trump promoted the interview on Truth Social without comment. (Graham later tried to walk this back, saying, ‘I reject violence.’)
2020 — A Chilling Example of Spoken Political Violence
“Trump employed and shared such suggestive rhetoric early and often in his political career. A federal judge in 2017 found that he might have incited violence at one of his rallies. In one 25-hour period in mid-2020, Trump said, of violent racial-justice demonstrations, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” and promoted video of an ally saying, ‘The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.'”
Links:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-is-inciting-political-violence-says-biden-campaign-2024-04-02
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/02/trump-violent-rhetoric-social-media