We alluded to this in yesterday's post, but it merits a more thorough discussion -- one that we've had before. In the wake of confirmed or potential acts of political violence, our nation's 'news' media generally proceeds one of two ways. If the target appears to be on the Left, a burst of high-decibel coverage ensues, blaming the Right's 'dangerous' rhetoric for the incident. If the target appears to be on the Right, we are treated to muted references to "toning things down," certainly "on all sides" of course. Eventually, sometimes with great alacrity and hackery, they find some way to implicate the Right anyway. Behold, a montage that was stitched together less than 24 hours after someone tried to murder Donald Trump on live television and in front of thousands of supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania:
WATCH - The gut reaction of the American press corp to an assassination attempt on Donald Trump is to blame his rhetoric. pic.twitter.com/Tax55rzylz
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 14, 2024
A few points: First, Donald Trump has said many irresponsible and objectionable things over the years. There's a time and place to point that out. Mere hours after an assassin's bullet came within a few centimeters of blowing his head off is neither the time nor the place. They couldn't even wait a few days. They can't help themselves. Second, we don't have a great handle on the gunman's motives yet. We know that he donated to a leftist Democratic group, but was also a registered Republican. People who knew him in school said he was a loner who was bullied, and at least used to come across as a political conservative. His subsequent donation to a 'progressive' group suggests his political thinking may well have changed dramatically. Regardless, he inarguably came to loathe Trump enough to try to kill him.
It may be futile or useless to try to divine the thought process of a 20-year-old progressive donor and registered Republican. He was clearly deeply unwell, and turned to an act of profound evil. None of that nuance would matter if he'd taken a shot at a prominent Democrat. He would be 'MAGA,' and the entire GOP and GOP-adjacent world would be facing a world of incoming attacks. We all know it. There have been numerous examples of undeniable left-wing violence in our country over recent years, quite a few of which are summarized by Erickson (who shared the clip above) in this piece:
Floyd Lee Corkins, an MSNBC viewer, attempted the mass assassination of employees of the Family Research Council, a conservative organization.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 15, 2024
James Hodgkinson, an MSNBC viewer, attempted the mass assassination of Republican members of Congress.
Nicholas Roske, an MSNBC viewer,…
Members of the press — I know you read this. And you are contributing to a very violent situation. That you feel justified in lecturing the right on their temperament and rhetoric and have barely called out Democrats or even your coworkers is making this worse...Just as so many members of the press have been weak in their calls against leftwing antisemitic protests, so too have members of the press been weak on calling out the violent, shrill rhetoric of Democrats and progressive activists against the right — including from the air of the networks. The bullets have all been fired by leftwing activists towards Republican targets. Yes, actual bullets, not mean tweets and words — but you all spend way more time handwringing about Republican tone and rhetoric. Yes, everyone needs to tone it down. Trump is not a threat to democracy. Neither is Biden. But Democrats are the ones who not only insist Trump is a threat to democracy, but our nation is going to end if he gets elected and he is the second coming of Hitler. The bullets are flying in only one direction. And the press spends way more time lecturing those getting shot at than those firing the bullets. Now, I think the shooter is to blame. But if the press thinks rhetoric can incite, maybe they need to be more equitable in applying that belief.
Within the Trump era alone, there was an attempted massacre of Republican Congressmen and Senators on a baseball field, there was a serious assassination plot against Justice Bret Kavanaugh, and now Donald Trump himself has been shot. Those examples alone represent assaults on all three branches of government. Yet the national media conversation around "dangerous rhetoric" and political violence is almost exclusively focused on Trump and the Right. The galling canyon of 'rules' and standards is a source of valid resentment among conservatives. After this weekend's horror, some people cited President Biden's recent "bullseye" comment as an example of incitement. I've always tried to be consistent on this point, regardless of which narrative might be served after a terrible event. But the lack of consistency -- indeed, the enthusiastic, venomous inconsistency -- from many members of the press is corrosive and trust-destroying. I addressed it in a lengthy social media thread, which I'll present here in brief essay form (by the way, Biden's 'bloodbath' lie has been repeatedly debunked, yet he has kept dishonestly employing it):
🧵 Biden quite plainly wasn’t speaking literally re: “bullseye.” Honest people should admit that, just as Biden should immediately drop his out-of-context “bloodbath” lie.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 14, 2024
I think the reason why many are pointing to the bullseye comment is that it reminds them of the “target”… https://t.co/P20SVbPRU2
Biden quite plainly wasn’t speaking literally re: “bullseye.” Honest people should admit that, just as Biden should immediately drop his out-of-context “bloodbath” lie. I think the reason why many are pointing to the bullseye comment is that it reminds them of the “target” smear deployed against Sarah Palin years ago, in the wake of the awful but apolitical Giffords shooting. The Left/media machine turned that terrible incident into a partisan cudgel, even though it turned out not to have been motivated by politics at all. We also recall the Congressional baseball shooter being steeped in murderous, left-wing bigotries — and Chuck Schumer threatening SCOTUS justices prior to a failed assassination plot against Justice Kavanaugh. Urgent Dem/media-led “national conversations” around “civility” curiously did not arise from those poisonous episodes.
I have consistently said that it’s wrong and unjust to blame the actions of an evil person on an entire political party. I’ve done this when both sides have engaged in it. It’s a demagogic silencing tactic. In the current moment, we don’t yet know precisely what motivated Trump’s would-be assassin, but it’s self-evident he wasn’t a Trump fan, and had reportedly donated to a leftist org (while also registering to vote as a Republican). I don’t blame rhetoric for what happened, even as I acknowledge the vitriolic and apocalyptic nature of pervasive anti-Trump messaging has been excessive and corrosive. Taking everything down a notch or two seems like a good idea.
What burns me -- and I’m far from alone -- is how the “rhetoric” rules only seem to flow in one direction from much of the news media, with strikingly different standards applied to the two political tribes. Amazingly, some “journalists” have somehow already turned Trump’s near-murder into critiques of Trump and right-wing rhetoric. They couldn’t even wait a day before shoe-horning this into their unshakable narrative. It’s blinkered and demented. When howling, slanderous double standards are shoved at us over and over again, a lot of people are going to retaliate by throwing the rules weaponized against their ‘team’ back in the faces of the self-appointed rules enforcers. This grotesque blame game may feel unfair because it is unfair. Welcome to your rules, and our world.
If we are going to step back from this reflexive ugliness, the people responsible for these infuriating double standards can lead by example. Based on some high profile comments that have already emerged (not 24 hours into this), I’m not optimistic many of them are capable of changing their behavior. Many of them see Trump as the embodiment of our strife and division. They should look in the mirror.
I'll leave you with an observation about the notable absence of street violence and social unrest after Donald Trump was nearly assassinated on Saturday night -- as well as another 'rule' that has already flown out the window on the Left today, following a seismic decision by the federal judge overseeing the federal classified documents and obstruction case against Trump:
100 MILLION PlSSED OFF REPUBLICANS.
— TONY™ (@TONYxTWO) July 14, 2024
0 CITIES DESTROYED.
Imagine that.
The whole ‘we must respect the process and not attack judges’ so-called “rule” is about to be torn up by the Left.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 15, 2024
(I don’t know how sound of a legal decision this is, and whether it is likely to be reversed on appeal…will wait to hear from people I trust on such matters)
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