We Don't Have a Political Violence Problem in America. We Have a Left-Wing Political Violence Problem in America
Stop pretending this is a problem shared equally by both sides. The more liberal you are, the more likely you are to justify political violence, whereas the opposite is true on the Right.
The White House Correspondents Dinner was cut short Saturday night when a man rushed the security magnetrons while shooting a gun. The suspect has been identified as Cole Allen, a California teacher and graduate of CalTech who has a Master’s degree in Engineering.
Per Fox News, Allen told investigators after his arrest that his intent was to target Trump administration officials at the WHCD. His alleged manifesto makes his motive clear: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” Cole wrote in a document disseminated to family members.
Let’s just stop for a minute and think about what that means.
The same week the New York Times published a cozy interview justifying the murder of people whose politics you don’t like, the same week we learned that the Unite the Right Charlottesville rally was funded by the Left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, President Trump survived his third assassination attempt.
We don't have a political violence problem in America. We have a Left-wing political violence problem in America.
Democratic politicians and their loyal followers in the media have greeted the news of a third assassination attempt on President Trump’s life with their usual anodyne denunciations of political violence “on both sides.”
But it’s not coming from both sides. It’s coming from one side. It’s coming from their side.
A recent YouGov poll says it all: 25% of very liberal Americans consider political violence justified—compared to 3% of very conservative Americans. Another 17% of liberal Americans say it’s justified, compared to just 6% of conservatives.
The more liberal you get, the more likely you are to justify political violence, whereas the opposite is true on the Right. Young conservatives are less likely to justify political violence than moderates, and half as likely as liberals overall.
Is it any wonder, with influencers like Hasan Piker justifying the murder of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson in the pages of the New York Times, and Democrats clamoring over themselves to appear on his podcast?
The more liberal you are, the more likely you are to justify political violence, whereas the opposite is true on the Right.
The Left likes to claim that political violence occurs on the Right, too, but their “proof” comes from thoroughly outdated and discredited polling, or examples that just don’t bear that out. A widely circulated Economist poll failed to cite a single instance of violence from the Black Lives Matter riots, and meanwhile counted any violence committed by people incarcerated and white as Right-wing violence, even when it occurred years later between family members.
Democrats also cite the tragic case of Melissa Horton, the Democratic lawmaker in Minnesota who was killed, as proof of Right-wing violence targeting Left-wing politicians. But her killer, Vance Boelter, is obviously deranged; he claimed in a letter to the FBI that he was acting on the instructions of Democrat Tim Walz, who asked him to kill Horton—which is obviously not true but it is proof that he wasn’t motivated by Right-wing politics.
Meanwhile, avowedly Left-wing political ideology was behind the murder of Charlie Kirk. It was behind the murder of Brian Thompson. It was behind most of the violent rioting and protesting we’ve seen over the last decade (including at Charlottesville!). It’s been behind three assassination attempts on the President.
The Democrats and the media routinely call President Trump a fascist and a Nazi. They accuse him of being an authoritarian, a king. They accuse him of being a huge threat to democracy.
This rhetoric has led to an embrace of political violence among their followers and consumers. And it’s got to stop.
Other Democrats have blamed gun violence for the rise in political violence, which is of course ridiculous, given that conservatives are much more likely to own guns, yet much less likely to engage in and justify political violence.
It’s time for the Left to take responsibility for the violence it is fomenting, justifying, and carrying out. Cole Allen’s manifesto justifying his attempted murder of the President doesn’t read like the ravings of a lunatic. It sounds like the kind of rhetoric you hear every single day from Democrats and their media. They are radicalizing their side every single day, and refusing to take down the temperature.
The President has called for peace and unity.
"In light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” he said at an impromptu press conference that replaced his speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
I want to. But I am just so angry.
You can’t unite around a lie.
This piece has been updated to include the alleged gunman’s manifesto.
The left is now a revolutionary movement - socialist, Islamist, Woke - and believe violence is acceptable to further the revolution. With few exceptions, this is the future of the Democratic Party. Socialists and progressive Democrats like Bernie, Warren, Ro, the Squad, have embraced the revolution and are fueling it. For so-called mainstream Democrats, it is cynical political calculation that lasts only until they are no longer useful to revolutionaries.
An excellent article, Batya! It brings to us a painful truth. Political violence is predominantly only on one side these days, the left. Liberals and progressives are more likely than moderates or conservatives to say political violence is justified. This isn’t the “peace, love and understanding” left of the 1960s and 1970s, this is the modern day left who’s all about using any means necessary to achieve their goals. Hasan Piker has openly embraced crime and the murder of the rich. The left celebrated Luigi Mangione for murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. A Bernie Sanders supporter shot Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise at the Congressional Baseball Field. Antifa attacks conservatives and anyone else they disagree with, riots, attack ordinary people and members of the press, doxx people, threaten people, show up at their houses, and have shot Border Patrol agents. BLM and Antifa set fire to cities and rioted in the streets after the whole George Floyd hoax. Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Hamas protesters marched across the streets of America and college campuses chanting for the genocide of the Jewish people, the destruction of the state of Israel and celebrating the horrific events of October 7th.
THREE count em’ THREE assassination attempts have been made on President Trump. I thought it was crazy Gerald Ford was almost assassinated twice, Donald Trump sadly, broke that record. It’s like the 1970s all over again with all this far-left political violence. The SPLC happily funded the KKK, the National Socialist Party of America and other odious groups to go around causing chaos. They were behind Charlottesville as well it turns out. This is NOT to say political violence from the right never happens. But it is not in any way, shape or form proportionate to the political violence that comes from the left. I seriously had someone I used to follow on Instagram DM me last night after I chastised her for saying “there comes a time when political violence is justified”, “Trump was literally about to start World War 3. Don’t you think he should be taken out by any means necessary?” No, no I don’t, and I disagree with him on many issues. Doesn’t mean he needs or deserves, to be gunned down. I promptly unfollowed her and will never speak to her again. I’m an independent moderate who votes for folks from both parties. I am on the left on social issues and often disagree with the President on policy in this area, but I would never want him or members of his family to be killed.