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Date: September 16, 2024 at 14:32:57
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Anti-Trump rhetoric comes under scrutiny after golf course threat |
URL: Anti-Trump rhetoric comes under scrutiny after golf course threat |
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Anti-Trump rhetoric comes under scrutiny after golf course threat
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 09/16/24 5:06 PM ET
The apparent assassination attempt Sunday on former President Trump —
the second in just two months — is raising questions about whether the
rhetoric against him is going too far, and if politicians need to take steps
to cool tensions.
The motivation of the suspect in Sunday’s incident is not clear, and
experts cautioned against drawing a direct link between campaign
rhetoric and the actions of those who would attempt violence against a
candidate.
But some saw the latest threat to Trump as the fallout of close to a decade
of near-constant verbal and social media attacks on the former president,
a deeply polarizing figure who inspires intense feelings among both his
supporters and his critics.
“Why hasn’t Kamala told her supporters yet that Trump is not a threat to
democracy, is not a dictator, and condemned her party’s relentless
demonization of Republicans as ‘Nazis’ who ‘must be stopped,’” senior
Trump adviser Stephen Miller posted on the social platform X, referencing
Vice President Harris. “When will she take accountability for her & her
party’s rhetoric of incitement?”
“He’s been skewered over the last eight years, being compared to Nazis
and Hitler and fascists …and racists, all the ‘isms’ that you can possibly
imagine,” Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said on Fox News. “We should have a
spirited exchange of ideas. But, you know, attack the ideas, not the
person.”
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two gun crimes after
allegedly pushing the muzzle of a rifle through the fence along the
perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida while he was
there, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire at him.
The incident came roughly two months after a gunman opened fire at a
Trump rally in Butler, Pa., hitting the former president in the ear. One rally
attendee, as well as the gunman, died.
“Sadly this is not out of our norm,” said John Murphy, a professor at the
University of Illinois who studies political rhetoric. He pointed to the
violence of the 1960s, when there were multiple successful assassination
attempts on political figures.
“I just think it’s very hard to draw a cause-effect relationship between
particular statements and an attempt on somebody’s life,” Murphy said of
the violence targeting Trump. “There’s certainly an argument that we can
become callous toward violence. Part of the frustration on the part of
Republicans may be that not enough attention is being paid to these
attacks.”
The July assassination attempt that left Trump bloodied spurred calls on
both sides of the aisle for cooler heads to prevail and led those close to
the former president to suggest the experience had left a deep and lasting
impression on him. But it was a matter of days before fiery campaign
rhetoric returned.
After Sunday’s incident, there was no break in the campaign at all, with
both sides continuing to run ads in what has been a tightly fought contest.
Trump and his advisers were quick to point fingers and claim Harris and
Democrats had encouraged the threats against him.
Trump, in comments to Fox News and posts on social media, explicitly
connected Routh’s actions with the rhetoric of his political opponents who
have called him a threat to democracy. He also claimed the numerous
lawsuits he’s facing at the federal and state level were fueling violence
against him.
“These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to.
That is the rhetoric they listen to, and the same with the first one,” Trump
told Fox News.
The Trump campaign shared Monday a list of more than three dozen
instances where President Biden, Harris and other Democrats labeled him
as a threat who needed to be stopped, eliminated or defeated. Many of
those comments were referring to Trump as a threat to democracy or to
basic freedoms, like abortion access, and some Democrats later
apologized for comments that drew backlash.
It reflected broader frustration among some in Trump’s circle who feel
he’s frequently taken out of context, such as when he warned of an
economic “bloodbath” if he loses in November, and is decried as an
existential threat, even in the wake of the first attempt on his life that was
nearly successful.
Dan Scavino, a senior aide on Trump’s campaign, posted on social media
that Harris was “full of s—” for saying she was glad Trump was safe.
“It is your rhetoric that has caused this, AGAIN!!!!!” Scavino wrote.
Democrats and some Republicans reacted to Sunday’s incident by
expressing gratitude to law enforcement and condemning political
violence.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said it should be a
“moment of soul-searching for all Americans. It’s a time to reflect on the
ways that our political process has been injected by reprehensible
violence.”
Harris said in a statement she was “deeply disturbed” by Sunday’s
potential assassination attempt.
“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence,”
Harris said in a statement. “We all must do our part to ensure that this
incident does not lead to more violence.”
Trump himself has played a central part in escalating the political
temperature in recent years.
He encouraged supporters to “knock the crap” out of protesters at a 2016
rally. His repeated false claims about the 2020 election being rigged and
stolen preceded the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Donald
Trump Jr. mocked the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in 2022.
Most recently, Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have
spread debunked claims about Haitian migrants in an Ohio town, claiming
they are abducting people’s pets. Even as state and local officials have
pushed back on those claims, schools and government buildings have
been evacuated in recent days due to unfounded bomb threats.
Late Sunday, X owner and Trump supporter Elon Musk caused a stir when
he posted on the social media site: “And no one is even trying to
assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said of Musk’s post.
Strategists noted that Harris has subtly shifted her messaging about
Trump since replacing Biden atop the Democratic ticket.
While Biden’s central argument against Trump was that he was a threat to
democracy, Harris has spoken more broadly about turning the page on an
era of divisiveness. When she has spoken about the threat Trump poses,
it’s been in more specific terms, such as the possibility he would curb
abortion access or be unrestrained by the Supreme Court.
“Her strategy has been to diminish him through laughter,” said Murphy,
the University of Illinois professor. “Using humor to make him into
somebody small. That’s continually been the effort.”
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[441373] [441388] [441376] [441369] |
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441373 |
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Date: September 16, 2024 at 16:55:13
From: mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Trump’s personal attacks aren’t just who he is. They’re his strategy |
URL: https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/26/politics/trump-personal-attacks-policy-harris-analysis/index.html |
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"...attack the ideas, not the
person.”
Right... Trump would NEVER attack the "person"
….................
Republicans who want Trump to moderate are always
disappointed. The ex-president has littered his near-
decade in presidential politics with lies and
falsehoods. The only thing to which he’s been
consistently true is himself. Vengeance, bluster, self-
promotion and threats have been his engines of
notoriety for decades. This approach helped get him
elected in 2016, as he tapped into resentment against
political, media, cultural and business elites — and
rocked Washington. So when Trump’s backers beseech him
to behave in a more temperate way by avoiding raging
social media screeds or personal attacks, they are not
only asking him to suppress part of himself. They are
also seeking to neuter some of his core political
tactics.
...Trump has heard the critiques. But he didn’t seem
convinced at a boisterous event in Arizona on Friday.
As usual at a rally, he tried out attacks and slights,
then monitored his crowd for their response like a jazz
musician improvising around a familiar tune. He
complained bitterly about the attacks on his character
by Harris, the Obamas and others at the Democratic
convention last week, then polled his supporters on
whether he should accept his advisers’ advice to turn
the other cheek.
In a mocking voice, Trump said, “They say to me, ‘Sir …
please stick to policy, don’t stick to personality. You
should be nice to people, sir.’” He went on, “I call
them up, my geniuses, they get paid a fortune —
actually not that much … but I call up my people and
say, ‘They are knocking the hell out of me and you say
I shouldn’t get personal. But I am going to do my
best.’”
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Responses:
[441388] [441376] |
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441388 |
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Date: September 16, 2024 at 20:43:14
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump’s personal attacks aren’t just who he is. They’re his... |
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Yeah,Trump first with nicer rhetoric. Reap what you sew.
Live by the sword, die by the sword..there are a ton of
wisdoms that speak to this.
It's hard to take him seriously while he sent his
followers to attack "legal" immigrants in Springfield
with his false conspiracies just this week. And there
are so many examples.
Please don't ask me to feel sympathy for this guy. I
don't like violence, I condemn political violence, but I
have little patience or sympathies for big orange
hypocrites.
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441376 |
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Date: September 16, 2024 at 17:33:50
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump’s personal attacks aren’t just who he is. They’re his... |
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talking heads were just referring to this...why haitians "eating pets"? to swing the dialog to immigration...
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441369 |
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Date: September 16, 2024 at 14:46:12
From: shadow , [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Anti-Trump rhetoric comes under scrutiny after golf course threat |
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I can't help but wonder...what exactly does Stephen
Miller expect those who see Donald Trump for who and what
he is (a threat to democracy, a would-be dictator -- and
the GOP for what it is, that being a front for a Fascist
ploy) to DO, about the fact that certain individuals are
being inspired by those facts into enacting assassination
attempts?
Old Timer, there's just one weenie problem with Stephen
Miller's musing below. He wonders why Democratic
politicians haven't stepped up to tell supporters that
Donald Trump is not a threat to democracy, not an
aspiring dictator...and why Kamala hasn't stopped
demonizing the GOP as "Nazis" who must be stopped. Yes?
No one's "stepping up" to "correct them" because those
descriptions about him are fecking TRUE, dude. lol
NO ONE can save ANYONE from themselves, OT...lol... If
Donald Trump is assassinated, and I pray that does not
happen, he will have brought it entirely upon himself BY
BEING EXACTLY THE CHARACTER HE'S PORTRAYED AS...
...and there's simply no spin possible to try to deflect
from that truth, pal...
...lol...
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