By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The Guardian is reporting about new research allegedly showing an increase in “Americans’ support for political violence,” which leaders of gun control groups are blaming on a “proliferation of firearms” in this country.
This comes on the heels of a second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
The story quotes veteran gun control researcher Dr. Garen Wintemute, who observed, “There are, on any given day in the United States, thousands of armed people walking the streets who support the idea of political violence and are willing to engage in it.”
In recent years, it has primarily been people from the political left who have resorted to firearms. In June 2017, left wing activist James Hodgkinson opened fire on a Republican baseball practice session, wounding Congressman Steve Scalise and several other people before being fatally shot by police.
The first attempt to murder Trump came in Butler, Pennsylvania in July, when Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who originally registered as a Republican but then donated money to Democrats. An investigation into the shooting has been mounted by Sen. Charles Grasley (R-IA).
The recent attempt in Florida finds another man, who has also donated to Democrats, apparently hiding on the edge of the Trump golf course, waiting for an opportunity. Ryan Wesley Routh, a man with a history of brushes with the law, is now in custody as the investigation continues.
There has been very little media attention devoted to what might have driven these killers and the would- be killer to attack Republicans, especially Trump. But there is no doubt that the increasingly provocative, and sometimes downright volatile rhetoric directed at Trump is a factor.
Even during a White House press briefing Tuesday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre used the term “threat” to describe Trump, which brought a challenge from Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who asked, “How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump, other than ‘threat?’”
Jean-Pierre bristled at the question and condescendingly said she “completely disagreed” with his question, and asserted Doocy’s question was “incredibly dangerous.”
A report at Ammoland News earlier this week highlighted the continuing invective being used against Trump by the media and even by Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who on Monday accused the former president of “demagoguery,” and called him a “danger to our country and the world.”
Even The Guardian’s story contributed to the problem, with the news agency reporting, “He has threatened to jail his political enemies and warned of the possibility of a ‘bloodbath’ should he lose the election.” The “bloodbath” remark has been completely debunked as having been taken out of context as it referred to an economic disaster.
With less than 60 days remaining before the Nov. 5 election, the rhetoric will no doubt continue to get worse, and if Trump again wins a term, his critics on the Left will likely continue demonizing him, probably unchecked and maybe even unchallenged by the media.
