Berl Falbaum
Let’s be kind and call it a case of convenient political amnesia.
I’m referring to the Republican reaction to the shooting at the White House Correspondents dinner April 25.
Wasting no time, one by one, they blamed Democrats for “dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric.”
“I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats … is very dangerous,” said Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters. He described the incident as “the inevitable result of a radicalized left that has normalized political violence.”
Former GOP Michigan Representative Mike Rogers said in a statement that Democrats “know exactly what they’re doing and continue to inspire violent acts. Why else would they continue to block funding for DHS [Department of Homeland Security], the very agency meant to keep us safe?”
Here’s even more: “Democrats have spent years pouring fuel on the fire, attacking law enforcement and stoking division, and now they want to pretend they’re the party of public safety,” said Mike Marinella, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “We’re going to make sure voters see the full picture and hold every one of them accountable for the rhetoric they’ve embraced and the chaos it’s helped create.”
From the local to the national level, they blamed Democrats for the violence. So, what have they forgotten?
Let’s look at Donald Trump’s record on this issue. Here are just a few examples of Trump’s violent rhetoric:
• In March 2016 when a man was roughed up while protesting at a Trump rally, Trump said such attacks on protestors were “very, very appropriate” and the kind of action “we need a little bit more of.”
• In August 2016, he urged his supporters to “knock the crap” out of opponents and he would pay the legal bills.
• In August 2016, he seemed to suggest that gun advocates attack Hillary Clinton, stating: “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
• April 2020: Following armed anti-pandemic lockdown protests at several state capitals, Trump tweeted: “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”
• In May 2020, Trump, in response to protests over the murder of George Floyd, tweeted: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote in his memoir that Trump asked, “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”
• In August 2020, he defended a teenage supporter who shot three people at a Black Lives Matter protest, and at the first presidential debate of the 2020 election, he declined to condemn white supremacists.
• In September 2020, when police killed a self-described Antifa member suspected of killing a right-wing activist, Trump said, “That’s the way is has to be. There has to be retribution.”
• In October 2020, after the FBI foiled an attempt to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Trump said on Fox News, that Whitmer “has to open up” and “wants to be a dictator,” using the language of those arrested in the foiled plot.
• He incited the January 6, 2021 insurrection, and called the rioters patriots. Nine people died directly or indirectly and 150 police officers were injured. He called it “a day of love.” In January 2025, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,500 rioters.
Shortly before the insurrection, in his speech to the rioters, he told them: “To fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
• He implied support for hanging his vice president, Mike Pence, for certifying the 2020 election as required by the Constitution.
While Trump supported hanging his vice president, former Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, called Pence on her cellphone in the midst of the insurrection, to check with him that he was safe.
• In October 2022, he mocked Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had his head bashed in with a hammer by a far-right conspiracy theorist.
• In September 2023, Trump suggested that outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley, who served more than 40 years in the military, was a traitor who deserved to be executed after Milley made a call to China, assuring its leaders that the U.S. had no plans to attack their country.
• In March 2024, Trump charged there would be a “bloodbath” in the country if he is not elected in November.
• On November 20, 2025, Trump accused six Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after the lawmakers — all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community — called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”
He has called opponents, “goofy,” “deranged,” “psychos,” “seriously retarded,” “sleezy,” “traitors,” “radical left lunatics,” and “corrupt.”
Many of those Trump attacked had to increase security measures because they and their families faced death threats.
It is not an overstatement to suggest he institutionalized violence into our democracy. The examples cited above don’t even begin to tell the full story.
As I have written previously, none of this is intended to excuse, justify or defend attempted assassinations. They must be condemned forcefully and in the strongest terms. The frequent use of “unacceptable” to describe the shootings does not do it. The use of “unacceptable” is appropriate when someone doesn’t wipe their feet when they come into your house or litters.
Nor is this intended to excuse some of rhetoric coming from Democrats who have crossed the “red line.”
But if we are to work to temper political rhetoric, we need to understand the source. As I have written, we need to find the political vein which is leaking hate in order to cauterize it.
If Republicans cannot bring themselves to condemn Trump’s lies, corruption, sexual perversion, fraud, conflicts of interest, etc., at least they might work to temper the inciting of violence by their leader and hold him to account.
Okay, I agree, sorry…a little Pollyannish…more than a little…lost my head.
I’m referring to the Republican reaction to the shooting at the White House Correspondents dinner April 25.
Wasting no time, one by one, they blamed Democrats for “dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric.”
“I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats … is very dangerous,” said Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters. He described the incident as “the inevitable result of a radicalized left that has normalized political violence.”
Former GOP Michigan Representative Mike Rogers said in a statement that Democrats “know exactly what they’re doing and continue to inspire violent acts. Why else would they continue to block funding for DHS [Department of Homeland Security], the very agency meant to keep us safe?”
Here’s even more: “Democrats have spent years pouring fuel on the fire, attacking law enforcement and stoking division, and now they want to pretend they’re the party of public safety,” said Mike Marinella, spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “We’re going to make sure voters see the full picture and hold every one of them accountable for the rhetoric they’ve embraced and the chaos it’s helped create.”
From the local to the national level, they blamed Democrats for the violence. So, what have they forgotten?
Let’s look at Donald Trump’s record on this issue. Here are just a few examples of Trump’s violent rhetoric:
• In March 2016 when a man was roughed up while protesting at a Trump rally, Trump said such attacks on protestors were “very, very appropriate” and the kind of action “we need a little bit more of.”
• In August 2016, he urged his supporters to “knock the crap” out of opponents and he would pay the legal bills.
• In August 2016, he seemed to suggest that gun advocates attack Hillary Clinton, stating: “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
• April 2020: Following armed anti-pandemic lockdown protests at several state capitals, Trump tweeted: “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”
• In May 2020, Trump, in response to protests over the murder of George Floyd, tweeted: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote in his memoir that Trump asked, “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?”
• In August 2020, he defended a teenage supporter who shot three people at a Black Lives Matter protest, and at the first presidential debate of the 2020 election, he declined to condemn white supremacists.
• In September 2020, when police killed a self-described Antifa member suspected of killing a right-wing activist, Trump said, “That’s the way is has to be. There has to be retribution.”
• In October 2020, after the FBI foiled an attempt to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Trump said on Fox News, that Whitmer “has to open up” and “wants to be a dictator,” using the language of those arrested in the foiled plot.
• He incited the January 6, 2021 insurrection, and called the rioters patriots. Nine people died directly or indirectly and 150 police officers were injured. He called it “a day of love.” In January 2025, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,500 rioters.
Shortly before the insurrection, in his speech to the rioters, he told them: “To fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
• He implied support for hanging his vice president, Mike Pence, for certifying the 2020 election as required by the Constitution.
While Trump supported hanging his vice president, former Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, called Pence on her cellphone in the midst of the insurrection, to check with him that he was safe.
• In October 2022, he mocked Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had his head bashed in with a hammer by a far-right conspiracy theorist.
• In September 2023, Trump suggested that outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley, who served more than 40 years in the military, was a traitor who deserved to be executed after Milley made a call to China, assuring its leaders that the U.S. had no plans to attack their country.
• In March 2024, Trump charged there would be a “bloodbath” in the country if he is not elected in November.
• On November 20, 2025, Trump accused six Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after the lawmakers — all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community — called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”
He has called opponents, “goofy,” “deranged,” “psychos,” “seriously retarded,” “sleezy,” “traitors,” “radical left lunatics,” and “corrupt.”
Many of those Trump attacked had to increase security measures because they and their families faced death threats.
It is not an overstatement to suggest he institutionalized violence into our democracy. The examples cited above don’t even begin to tell the full story.
As I have written previously, none of this is intended to excuse, justify or defend attempted assassinations. They must be condemned forcefully and in the strongest terms. The frequent use of “unacceptable” to describe the shootings does not do it. The use of “unacceptable” is appropriate when someone doesn’t wipe their feet when they come into your house or litters.
Nor is this intended to excuse some of rhetoric coming from Democrats who have crossed the “red line.”
But if we are to work to temper political rhetoric, we need to understand the source. As I have written, we need to find the political vein which is leaking hate in order to cauterize it.
If Republicans cannot bring themselves to condemn Trump’s lies, corruption, sexual perversion, fraud, conflicts of interest, etc., at least they might work to temper the inciting of violence by their leader and hold him to account.
Okay, I agree, sorry…a little Pollyannish…more than a little…lost my head.
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