Democrats shouldn’t play along with Trump's martyr schtick.

This is no time for Democrats to go soft on protecting America from Donald Trump.

The Resistant Grandmother

Since Matthew Crooks’ recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump for as yet unknown reasons, talk has turned to ratcheting down violent political discourse.  

As a responsible president, President Biden took to the airwaves to urge a change in the kind of hot political rhetoric that has plagued our politics in recent years, and which has arguably become worse leading up to the election. 

Calling the assassination attempt “contrary to everything we stand for,” Biden urged a change to yelling less and listening more – even to “those with whom we may disagree.” 

They don’t dance
That all sounds good.  But as the old saying goes, “It takes two to tango.”  And so far Republicans have not only refused to turn down their rhetoric, they’re using the classic dirty politics technique of projection – falsely accusing Democrats of doing what they actually do, have done, and obviously will do more often in this critical election year. 

Listening and watching the endless array of Trump-dominated Republicans since the shooting and at the Republican convention, it’s clear the GOP will take the lies born out of the “stolen election” scam and use them to attack their enemies even further and with greater hubris. Anytime Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris go after Trump for the dangers he poses to American democracy, they cry foul, accusing Democrats of what they’re actually doing — stoking anger and violence every chance they get.

But Democrats should not and cannot let them get away with their verbal con games. They must continue to prosecute Republicans for the dangers they pose to democracy while staying laser-focused on the truth.

The latest surge of GOP lies began on Saturday after the shooting and has continued since.

Vance on the attack
Shortly after the Saturday shooting, now vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance actually said Joe Biden bore the blame for it:
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President (sic) Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.  That rhetoric has led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.”

If Trump really wanted to lower the temperature, a nod to Vance to accuse Biden of inciting the attack signaled Republicans intended to do exactly the opposite. The message of Vance’s attack: “If Biden and Democrats want to tone down the rhetoric, go for it. Your going soft will help us.  But don’t expect us to do the same. In fact, watch us amp it up.”

The ever-present Marjorie Taylor Greene followed suit, saying on X:

“We are in a battle of GOOD and EVIL. The Democrats are the party of pedophiles, murdering the innocent unborn, violence, and bloody, meaningless, endless wars.” 

And in a fugue state of projection – accusing others of what she and Republicans are doing, but Democrats are not, Greene continued: “They want to lock up their political opponents and terrorize innocent Americans who would tell the truth.” But truth be told, that comment speaks to a key policy plank in Trump’s “2025 plan” should he be reelected, replacing everyone at the Justice Department with Trump toadies, ready to exact revenge on Trump’s political foes.         

     

Holt’s awful interview
Even NBC news anchor Lester Holt played into the projection and equivalency game last Sunday with his interview with the president.  After grilling Biden for what seemed an eternity on his poor June 27 debate performance, Holt accused Biden of using violent rhetoric, referencing Biden’s saying it was time to “put Trump in a bull’s eye” while quickly brushing past the comment’s context — that it was said in a private, not public call with donors.

In commenting on the interview a few days later, even fellow NBC on-air host Joe Scarborough blamed Holt for its unfairness, saying Holt should have emphasized the difference between what Biden said privately — on one occasion with a few people — versus the kind of ongoing rhetoric heard from Trump and his supporters publicly in every conceivable time and place each day.  Still, in spite of the differences, Biden walked that phraseology back in contrast to Trump who never does.

What the Holt interview reveals is the subtle acquiescence of societal institutions like the mainstream media in enabling the authoritarianism/fascism Trump promises. That’s mainly because the media still does not understand how to respond to the prospect of radical change when it is not called for, say, by an economic crisis like The Great Depression.

Today all the social and economic indicators are good, but Trump lies and says America is awful, and gets away with it.  That’s because institutions go too hard on the good guys who tell the truth, but ease up on the bad guys who lie, doing so out of a still misguided sense of “fairness” that can end up being suicidal. Today, only the Democratic Party stands in the way of those lies taking hold.

Hate speech: the GOP’s coin of the realm
Perhaps Holt did not remember how Republicans and Trump are the ones who have created an album of atrocities of political hate speech going hand in hand with political violence. A trip down memory lane need not reach back further than even the last few years.

The first stop features the horrific 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, the former House Speaker’s husband, and the attempted violence on the Speaker herself.

The Pelosi attacks
Republican attacks on Nancy Pelosi can be traced back to 2010 when GOP’ers launched a “Fire Pelosi” project, complete with a hashtag site of the same name replete with pictures of the Speaker in hell, engulfed in flames. A bus tour made the rounds demonizing Pelosi to anyone who’d listen, getting media attention along the way and no doubt inspiring Trump’s followers to amp up their hate.

According to the Washington Post:
“Eleven years later, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) joked that if he becomes the next leader of the House, it will be hard not to hit Pelosi with the Speaker’s gavel.”  The GOP’s vilification of her culminated on Jan. 6 as armed rioters sought her out in the Capitol building with chants of “Oh, Nancy. Where a-r-e you?”

The rioters’ chant and McCarthy’s gavel iconography emerged again in October 2022 when ne'er-do-well and Trump devotee David DePape sought out Pelosi at her San Francisco home, found her not to be there, and so attacked her 82-year-old husband Paul with a hammer.

Republican condemnation of Pelosi attacks? Crickets…
Did Republicans condone the attack and call for national unity?  No, they thought it was funny, insinuating Mr. Pelosi brought on the attack himself as part of some sort of sexual assignation.  Donald Trump, Jr. said on social media alongside a picture he posted of a hammer and a pair of men’s underwear, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.”  

Did Donald Trump senior condemn the attack or his son’s crass innuendo?  Well, Trump did say the attack was a “horrible thing,” but only as an example of out-of-control “urban crime,” not to condemn violent or demeaning political speech. 

“Who will rid me of this troublesome Democrat?” – with a nod to Henry II and
apologies to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
The Trump-stoked attack on Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (see the anti-woman theme here again?) follows another similar pattern: Trump makes disparaging comments, deranged acolytes hear them as calls to action, and Trump neither takes any responsibility nor shows any concern for how it plays out. 

After four years of remaining silent, Whitmer finally tells the story of how Trump’s hate speech targeted her, leading to a bizarre militia group’s plans to kidnap, “try” her in a pretend trial, and punish her for actions as governor during Covid. It’s found in her new autobiography, True Gretch, and revealed recently in an interview with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.

Whitmer said that during Covid, governors from across the country had conference calls with the White House to seek help in getting things like masks, test kits, and ventilators — all to no avail.  The White House said getting needed supplies from offshore suppliers was all on them.

Trump’s misogyny
Apparently, Trump especially resented Whitmer’s pressing him to become more proactive, and started to refer to her as “that woman” at his rallies, reminiscent of the “nasty woman” moniker Trump used in 2016 against Clinton. 

This inspired about 14 male Trump followers in Michigan to concoct a plot to get Whitmer out of Trump’s hair by, after kidnapping, then killing her — taking her out in the woods someplace, or stranding her on Lake Michigan, presumably
until her death.  

Trump’s rallies reinforced the same hate inspiring Whitmer’s would-be kidnappers. Rally-goers would repeatedly chant, “Lock her up!” using the same trope used against Clinton.  Trump didn’t dissuade the crowd and often joined in saying, “Lock them
all up!”

Whitmer explained the powerful connection between Trump’s ongoing taunts and the violence it engendered:
“He knew his words incited people to action, just as they did on Jan. 6,”  said Whitmer during her “Late Show” appearance. 

The FBI worked independently from any possible Trump reach into the Department of Justice, the kind he promises in his 2025 plan that will make the DOJ and all federal agencies be staffed with only Trump loyalists and non-experts. Absent a 2025 plan’s existence in 2020, the FBI was able to foil the plot.

In his piece in TheAtlantic, David Frum writes that, inevitably, “authoritarian societies require a martyr.  Fascist movements are like secular religions. Like all religions, they offer martyrs as their proof of truth.” 

Up until Saturday, Trump played the martyr for being brought to justice for a lifetime of criminality.  Now, he’s got a clipped ear to add to his martyr status.  But unlike other martyrs who give of themselves to help others, Trump is only in this for himself. Therefore, the only “proof of truth” Trump can offer up must come from lies.

Unlike Trump, Democrats have truth on their side, so must use it. They must speak up loudly, unabashedly, daily if not sooner, clearly, courageously, and as one voice behind their candidate. Because we’ve just got between now and Nov. 5. 

–trg

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