Violence Is Trump’s Middle Name And Favorite Pastime
Reap what you sow, the chickens come home to roost, karma is a bitch; call it what you will but the fact is as clear as the bags under trump’s soul-less eyes that he is, by far, the leading instigator of political violence in the U.S. Not the Democrats.
No other presumptive Republican nominee or former president has acted anything like trump and the assassination attempt, despicable though it was, was as predictable as the sun rise.
Trump threatens to imprison millions of immigrants, attack his political enemies, execute those he considers to be traitors, destroy the media that does not follow his dictates and foments another rebellion at the Capitol if he does not win the 2024 presidential election. He supports white supremacists and anti-Semites and has said he would not hesitate to call in troops to quell peaceful protests.
Nobody can honestly claim that they were surprised at the attempted assassination of a man who labels foreigners as “rapists and murderers,” who bellows that immigrants are poisoning the blood of America, ridicules people with disabilities and uses race baiting as a principle political ploy.
And when the Democrats call trump for what he is, a Hitleresque, dictator in waiting, they are called out for inciting violence. Such crude, transparent, unmitigated gall, gaslighting and hypocrisy is unprecedented in this country. Trump has ushered in a shameful era and the stench is overwhelming.
Violence has been synonymous with trump, from when he was a fledgling developer and he hired the gutter-dwelling, master of hatred lawyer, Roy Cohn, to his fraternizing with racists and anti-Semites. The violence will not abate until trump’s enablers stand up to his lies and his seductive words of hatred.
Trump is willingly donning the clothes of the martyr who will save America, regardless of the dangers. And while his supplicants fall in line to praise trump’s so-called strength in the face of danger, there is not a peep of protest over his constant flow of lies and threats. The followers twist like devilish pretzels to explain away trump’s horrible behavior.
Evangelical chest-thumpers claim trump’s survival of the shooting is a sign from God. Elected Republican lawmakers at the highest level said that President Joe Biden was in some way, responsible for the shooting. Rep. Marjorie Taylor, R-Ga., the incarnation of Jadis of Narnia, said the Democratic Party is “flat out evil,” accusing it of trying “to murder President Trump.”
“We are in a battle between GOOD and EVIL,” Greene wrote on X. “The Democrats are the party of pedophiles, murdering the innocent unborn, violence, and bloody, meaningless, endless wars.”
As has been the case so many times before, tragedy is being turned into campaign dollars. After trump was convicted in the hush money case, donations totaled $35 million. Before the blood was wiped away from his face, the photo of the wounded trump, fist in the air, was quickly posted by House and Senate Republican campaigns on the social platform X.
The blood on trump’s earlobe was barely dry when the merch began to surface, capitalizing on the violence as it did when shirts were marked with a photo of trump’s mug shot. A T-shirt with photos of trump pumping his fist in the air as he was rushed off for medical treatment was reproduced on T-shirts from outlets based in the U.S. and China. One product, on sale for $22.95, had a shot of a bloodied trump raising his fist with the words “you can’t kill Trump” above the image. Another shirt used the same image with the line, “if you come at the king you best not miss” underneath the photo.
A man who was found guilty of sexual assault, bragged about sexually abusing women, cavorted with a porn star while his wife was pregnant, hawked Bibles for profit and peddled gold-colored sneakers, said on his Truth Social site after the wounding, that it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
“We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness,” wrote the man who has shown time and again that his faith is nothing more than a ploy to gain more wealth and power.
The messianic beliefs of evangelical Christian nationalists are growing ever stronger since the bloodshed and trump is doubling down on capitalizing on the moment. Christian nationalists believe that Christianity and the U.S. are intertwined so that an unsuccessful assassination is a sign to some that trump was saved as part of some prophetic design.
In February, Trump claimed at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Tennessee that the left “want to tear down crosses where they can, and cover them up with social justice flags.”
“But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear to you,” said the modern-day anti-Christ.
The identity of the alleged shooter was not even made public before trump, other Republican politicians and the MAGA crowd started exploiting the incident.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that “God is not through with President Trump.” Conservative commentator John Sabal, who runs The Patriot Voice Truth Social account, posted that Trump was “MADE for such a time as this to be God’s vessel to restore America in her darkest hour. He will NOT leave you or forsake you. EVER.” The post has garnered more than 12,000 likes.
New Hampshire GOP Chair Chris Ager said trump’s surviving proves he is “indestructible” and that “It doesn’t matter who the Democrats put up. They can wring their hands about President Biden all they want. Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who they put up. The Democrats are essentially a sideshow.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., linked the shooting to “incendiary (Democratic) rhetoric” about trump.
“For weeks Democrat leaders have been fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy in America,” Scalise said. “Clearly, we’ve seen far left lunatics act on violent rhetoric in the past. This incendiary rhetoric must stop.”
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, trump’s far left, vice presidential running mate, said the shooting was “not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who was an early vice-presidential contender for trump, wrote that “For years, Democrats and their allies in the media have recklessly stoked fears, calling President Trump and other conservatives' threats to democracy. Their inflammatory rhetoric puts lives at risk.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Biden should be “called out” for political attacks on trump that have contributed to what he described as a “heated political environment.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said “it is obvious” the shooting “was because of the leftists.” He said the political violence is “much more so on the left than on the right — people feel like they can’t wear anything that reflects their Make America Great Again, Republican beliefs.” Government reports have cited right wing militias and other far right figures as largely responsible for the nation’s political violence.
While early details of the shooting were unfolding, and with no evidence, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., a major trump supporter, blamed Biden for the attack and called for him to be prosecuted
If the past is any sign, trump will not tone down his hateful attacks. To the contrary, they are sure to get worse, as long as trump sees political gain and realizes that many Americans have a perverse love of his feigned rebelliousness and aggressive tone.
How many times has he provoked violence, let me count the ways. Here is a brief note, in no special order; the multitude of times that trump used provocative jargon is way too long to fully recount.
In 2018, Trump praised then-Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., for assaulting a reporter. “Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!” trump said. “You know, that’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Gianforte pled guilty to misdemeanor assault.
After he was indicted for fraud in New York in March 2023, Trump warned of “potential death & destruction” that “could be catastrophic for our country” if he was convicted.
In 2024, trump reposted an image of a hogtied, President Joe Biden in the back of a pickup truck festooned with an American flag.
At his 2024 hush money trial he threatened and demeaned Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter.
Trump makes a mockery of the justice system as he exalts his rioting supporters who are in jail on numerous violent charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He calls the prisoners “patriots” as he laughs at the legal system.
Trump posted on Truth Social that Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, deserved to face the death penalty as an alleged traitor because, in the heat of the Jan. 6 failed insurrection, he reassured the Chinese that the U.S. would not invade. Speaking about Milley days after Trump’s post, Cynthia Yockey, a trump supporter from Iowa, asked, “Why was he not in there before a firing squad within a month?”
Trump has called for shoplifters to be shot on sight. At a fall rally in California, he said, “Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store, shot.”
He made light of the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The assailant was deep into trump election conspiracy theories.
Ahead of his trial on fraud, trump called New York Attorney General Letitia James “corrupt and racist,” “rogue” and “out of control.” He suggested that reporters “ought to go after this attorney general.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, the day that Congress counted the electoral votes that certified Biden’s victory, trump told the mob of supporters preparing to attack the Capitol, “You will never take back our country with weakness.”
In August 2019, trump defended a teenage supporter who shot three people at a Black Lives Matter protest.
On June 16, 2015, when Trump announced his bid for president he spoke about undocumented immigrants and made disparaging comments about Mexicans, saying, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
On August 19, 2015, two Boston brothers invoked trump’s name when they were arrested for urinating on an immigrant homeless man and beating him with a metal pipe. In response to the news, trump called the brothers “passionate” and “They want this country to be great again.”
On October 23, 2015, after repeated interruptions at a campaign rally, trump warned he’ll “be a little more violent” next time when addressing protesters. “See, the first group, I was nice. ‘Oh, take your time.’ The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I’ll be a little more violent. And the fourth group, I’ll say get the hell out of here!” he said. On video, the pro-immigration protesters could be seen being forcibly dragged out of the campaign event.
On November 21, 2015, at a rally in Birmingham, Ala., Trump demanded that Black activist Mercutio Southall Jr. be removed after he yelled, “Black lives matter!” Trump bloviated, “Get him the hell out of here! Get him out of here! Throw him out!” In a video captured by CNN, Southall fell to the ground as trump talked and white men appeared to kick and punch him.
On January 8, 2016, Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old Muslim woman wearing a hijab, was escorted out of a trump rally for standing up in silent protest when trump claimed that Syrian refugees fleeing war were affiliated with ISIS. Trump had previously called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” As she was being led out, one man yelled to Hamid, “Get out! Do you have a bomb? Do you have a bomb?”
On February 1, 2016, at a rally in Iowa, trump told the crowd that he had been informed there may be somebody throwing tomatoes. “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Just knock the hell out of them. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. There won’t be so much of them because the courts agree with us,” he said.
On February 23, 2016, trump said of a protester at a rally in Las Vegas, “I’d like to punch him in the face.” As security guards escorted the protester out of the rally, trump mocked him, saying, “He’s smiling. Having a good time.” “I love the old days,” trump said. “You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
On February 27, 2016, trump advocated for police violence, saying that officers are afraid to do their jobs because America is “becoming a frightened country.” “You see, in the good old days, law enforcement acted a lot quicker than this. A lot quicker. In the good old days, they’d rip him out of that seat so fast — but today, everybody’s politically correct,” trump said. “Our country’s going to hell with being politically correct. Going to hell.”
On August 12, 2017, trump refused to denounce violence as he equated the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Va., as part of a “Unite the Right” rally with the protesters who demonstrated against them. During the rally, a Nazi sympathizer drove a car into a crowd of anti-racism counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. The evening before, the neo-Nazis and white supremacists marched at the University of Virginia, carrying lit tiki torches and chanting anti-Semitic slogans, in response to the impending removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Trump’s high profile supporters also have lobbed many violent, political bombs.
After trump’s conviction for falsifying business records to cover up payments to Stormy Daniels, Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake suggested that she and other supporters would fight the verdict with firearms. In a video, Lake said, “If you want to get to President Trump, you’re gonna have to go through me and you’re gonna have to go through 75 million Americans just like me, and I’m going to tell you … most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA.” Lake also encouraged her supporters to arm themselves during an April campaign event. “They’re coming after us with lawfare. They’re going to come after us with everything. That’s why the next six months is going to be intense,” Lake said. “We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.”
In June, North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson promoted the murder of “socialists,” “wicked people,” and other perceived enemies. “Some folks need killing,” Robinson said. “It’s time for somebody to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity.” Robinson said that he owns semi-automatic rifles in case he needs to use them against the government.
“I’ll tell anybody, I got them AR-15s at home and I like to go target shooting and all that. That’s not what they’re there for,” Robinson said in May. “I’m not ashamed to say it, I’m probably not supposed to say it, but I’m gonna say it anyway — I got them AR-15s in case the government gets too big for its britches. Cause I’m gonna fill the backside of them britches with some lead.”
In addition to her latest violent prompts, in 2018 and 2019, Greene called for the execution of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with “a bullet to the head.” Greene later claimed that staff members ran her account. In 2019, Greene “created a White House petition” to impeach Pelosi for “crimes of treason,” for supporting immigration policies that Greene opposed. “[I]t’s a crime punishable by death is what treason is,” Greene said. “Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason.”
In April, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., encouraged people to respond to pro-Palestine protesters on the Golden Gate Bridge with violence. “I encourage people who get stuck behind the pro-Hamas mobs blocking traffic: take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense,” Cotton posted on X. On Fox News, Cotton said he would support throwing protesters off a bridge. “If something like this happened in Arkansas, on a bridge there, let’s just say I think there would be a lot of very wet criminals that had been tossed overboard not by law enforcement, but by the people whose road they’re blocking. If they glued their hands to a car or the pavement, well, probably pretty painful to have their skin ripped off but I think that’s [how] we would handle it in Arkansas.”
And in 2020, during Black Lives Matter protests, Rep. Matt Gaetz,R-Fla., said the protesters were Antifa terrorists. “Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?”
In March 2023, after trump was indicted in the Stormy Daniels case, Tucker Carlson said that Democrats were involved in a “political purge” and are “pushing the population to react.” He described the charges as a test to see if trump’s supporters were “demoralized and passive.” After a guest asserted that Democrats were pursuing “a one-party state and authoritarian government,” Carlson advised that it was “not the best time to give up your AR-15s.”
In a 2022 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, described the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress as “power hungry, abusive totalitarian nitwits.” He said his job as a Senator was to “grab a battle axe and… fight the barbarians.” He said conservative activists at the conference should think of themselves as “dangerous radicals… like those who died at the Alamo.”