Within twenty-four hours of the second assassination attempt against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton railed Monday about "how dangerous Trump is," calling her arch-enemy a "danger to our country and the world."
In other words, the same type of incendiary left-wing rhetoric that led to both attempts on Trump's life.
So how bad is it?
As I wrote on Monday, even ABC's "The View" co-host Sunny Hostin condemned the number of Americans who believe force and violence are justified to stop Trump from returning to the White House.
I was just reading this morning, a recent University of Chicago poll examines support for political violence in the United States. And there is more support for violence today against Trump and others. Against Trump, 10 percent of American adults think it’s okay, and 26 million adults who support violence to prevent Trump from regaining the presidency — more than 30,000 of those own guns and almost 80 percent have access to internet organizational tools. That’s despicable, what do we do?
What "we" do, Sunny, is stop the left's extreme rhetoric against Donald Trump before he gets killed.
READ MORE:
Sunny Hostin Has Brief Moment of Clarity, Condemns Number of People Who Back Violence Against Trump
The shocking June 24 survey referenced by Hostin showed that those 26 million people agree that “the use of force is justified to prevent Donald Trump from being president.” And at least a third of them own firearms. Bottom line: a significant minority of Americans are radically opposed to Trump returning to power and they are politically active, with the capacity for violence.
On Tuesday, George Washington University Law School Professor Jonathan Turley weighed in on the staggering number of Trump-haters who believe the former president should be stopped by any means necessary, in addition to what he terms "the age of rage" now threatening America.
[The] poll ... offers a chilling account of the growing radicalism in America, particularly after the second foiled assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump, the poll found that 26 million Americans believe “the use of force” is justified to keep Trump from regaining the presidency.
As discussed in my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” we have seen an increasing level of rage rhetoric in our political system. For some, violent language can become violent action. There is a normalization that can occur as extreme actions become more acceptable to more and more citizens.
Turley's column contained a paragraph from his book that perfectly encapsulates the rage rhetoric prevalent in today's America (emphasis, mine).
We are living in an age of rage. It permeates every aspect of our society and politics. Rage is liberating, even addictive. It allows us to say and do things that we would ordinarily avoid, even denounce in others. Rage is often found at the farthest extreme of reason. For those who agree with the underlying message, it is righteous and passionate. For those who disagree, it is dangerous and destabilizing.
"Dangerous and destabilizing." If that doesn't explain the political environment in which a former president of the United States survives two assassination attempts over the course of just 64 days, what does?
And where does Turley place the blame for rage rhetoric?
This one's a no-brainer.
With the unrelenting claims of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and others that democracy is about to die in America, some now feel a license to commit criminal acts in the name of “saving democracy.”
It is the ultimate form of self-delusion that one saves democracy by committing political violence against those with whom you disagree.
We have seen this radicalism spread in past years from higher education into society at large.
Years ago, many of us were shocked by the conduct of University of Missouri communications professor Melissa Click who directed a mob against a student journalist covering a Black Lives Matter event. Yet, Click was hired by Gonzaga University. Since that time, we have seen a steady stream of professors joining students in shouting down, committing property damage, participating in riots, verbally attacking students, or even taking violent action in protests.
It is now common to hear inflammatory language from professors advocating “detonating white people,” denouncing police, calling for Republicans to suffer, strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, supporting the murder of conservative protesters and other outrageous statements.
Turley's explanation of the progression of rage rhetoric in recent years is unassailable.
"While Democratic leaders have condemned the second assassination attempt on Trump," Turley correctly observed, "they have continued the unhinged rhetoric of how this may be our last election and democracy is about to die in America."
Precisely to Turley's point, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) posted to X on Sunday, in the immediate aftermath of the second assassination attempt, demanding supporters "stop" the "extreme MAGA Republicans."
Extreme MAGA Republicans are the party of a national abortion ban and Trump’s Project 2025. We must stop them.
Trump has repeatedly denied involvement with Project 25.
The Bottom Line
It's a folly to believe that the rage rhetoric of the Democrat Party and its lapdog media will cool down, let alone stop. In the meantime, Donald Trump faces unprecedented danger as former president — even if courageously so.
