週六晚上，在賓州巴特勒舉行的川普集會上，槍擊事件導致至少一名觀眾喪生，另外兩人情況危急，就在幾小時後，共和黨參議員JD 萬斯指責民主黨和拜登President.
“Today was not just an isolated incident. A core premise of the Biden campaign was that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. This rhetoric led directly to the assassination attempt on President Trump.
In 2016, J.D. Vance’s college roommate said he called Donald Trump “the American Hitler.”
In 2024, J.D. Vance, a man who blamed President Biden’s “comments” for the shootings, appears to be a registered Republican who may have donated $15 to ActBlue three years ago.
J.D. Vance’s Yale law roommate shared an apparent screenshot of the message he claimed was also corroborated by the now-Republican senator’s campaign, Vance wrote:
“I often think Trump is a cynical jerk like Nixon who can’t be that bad (and might even prove useful), or that he’s America’s Hitler. What’s considered discouraging?
Vance also described the Republican Party as “the party of low-income, poorly educated white people, whether we like it or not,” and said, “Trump is the result of the party’s collective neglect.”
Vance had a lot to say to Trump at the time. So much so that the Lincoln Project mocked him when he campaigned with Trump, calling him “Never Trump”:
What is the difference between JD Vance and his book Hillbilly Elegy?
The book has a spine. pic.twitter.com/PxC7zHRWi1
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 4, 2022
The point in retrospect here is that Vance immediately and without evidence used rhetoric to dangerously blame Democrats for this shooting before we had any information. But he himself has actually said worse things about Trump, albeit privately, and that’s a big difference. But no different, Vance’s comments pointed the finger at President Biden, accusing him of things that have nothing to do with him.
It’s concerning that one can’t incite more violence when one spouts political rhetoric and expects to be taken seriously by anyone but the MAGA base.
Vance’s statement was the most telling because the Republican Party has systematically failed to hold Trump and MAGA politicians accountable for violent rhetoric, while the former president refused to condemn political violence in January as he incited deadly attacks in an attempted self-coup to stay in power. , and refused to respect the will of voters during debates—behaviors that contributed to higher temperatures, fear, anger, anxiety, distrust, and violence.
Kevin Roberts, leader of the pro-Trump Project 2025 group, said there would be “a new American revolution” that would be bloodless “if the left allows it”, but that didn’t lower the temperature.
Shouting “Plan 2025” over the actual plans it has in place is not demagoguery; This is a fact-based responsibility. A political party cannot conspire to fundamentally undermine the foundations of American government after inciting a deadly insurrection after losing power and expecting everyone to ignore it.
The threat to law enforcement surveillance comes from both sides, from high-level instigators of political violence and from citizens reaction The continued radicalization of the Republican Party and the power they steal from Americans. The obvious answer to this question is All political leaders stop inciting violencebut here J.D. Vance responds to deadly violence by going out of his way to incite more violence.
It’s unclear what touched Donald Trump’s ears. He said he was shot, but law enforcement briefed the media last night that he was struck by the glass from a teleprompter. From the audience’s perspective, the teleprompter didn’t appear to be compromised, but from Trump’s perspective, law enforcement would clearly have a better opinion of the teleprompter.
What is undeniable is that someone obtained an AR-15-style rifle, climbed onto the roof of the open field chosen by the Trump campaign, and fired into the crowd. Law enforcement said it was an assassination attempt on the former president.
We also need to be mindful of our words and actions. Republican lawmakers regularly wear AR-style rifle pins on the House floor and again blocked Democratic efforts in December to pass an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
President Biden addressed the public after the shooting, condemning the violence, “Look, America will not allow this violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. That’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We can’t allow it.” This happens. We can’t tolerate this.
The president also said in an earlier statement to Politico that he had been briefed on the shooting and prayed for Trump, his family and all those who attended the rally, adding: “Jill and I thank the Secret Service for allowing He is safe. America will not tolerate this violence. We must unite as a nation to condemn this act.
The FBI is taking a lead role in the ongoing investigation and urges anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Sarah has been granted coverage of President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and has had multiple exclusive interviews and exclusive reporting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi She made her first home appearance since then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
Sarah is a two-time Telly Award-winning filmmaker and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Contact Sarah at Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
