The violent attack on the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with an alleged threat to kidnap the third most powerful elected official in America, is absolutely the result of escalating violent rhetoric by Republican politicians. They will deny it, but the cause-and-effect evidence is simply too abundant to ignore. Republican leaders are openly inspiring political violence, apparently out of fear that democracy isn’t working for them.
Some, including Donald Trump Jr., are treating the hammer attack on Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, as something to joke about. Others, in an apparent bid to “own the libs,” refuse to tamp down the violent rhetoric even when they know it serves as an open invitation for their more radical followers to take the next step.
How did things get this crazy? Simple: Donald Trump campaigned in 2016 with brash calls for actual violence, including promising to pay the legal fees if his supporters beat up protesters at his campaign events. He encouraged police not to be so careful when helping detainees lower their heads when climbing into squad cars, suggesting a little head-bashing wasn’t such a bad thing. His condemnation of government rules to stem the spread of the coronavirus inspired right-wing followers to plot the kidnapping of Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. And the most vivid example of how Trump’s violent rhetoric translated into radical action was the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
