Trump's Behavior, not Dem Rhetoric, is Responsible for Assassination Attempts
Effort to blame the attack on overheated Dem rhetoric ignore the predicate cause of the problem, which is Trump's outrageous, undemocratic behavior.
A shooter tries to take out Trump and immediately the Republican machine tries to blame “overheated” Dem rhetoric for it. This accusation is both cynical and wrong. Is it an exaggeration to call Trump a threat to democracy? The answer is a resounding no. It’s not overheated rhetoric. It’s reality—empirical, objective, and undeniable. Trying to muzzle dems from saying it out loud gives Trump a free pass he doesn’t deserve.
Let’s break this down. It is undeniable that Trump’s behavior has consistently flouted democratic norms. He refused to accept the results of a free and fair election. He perpetuated baseless claims of voter fraud that led to the deadly January 6 insurrection. His authoritarian tendencies—pressuring state officials to “find votes” and attempting to overturn lawful election results—are not fringe interpretations. They’re well-documented facts. When someone consistently undermines democracy, it’s not an exaggeration to call them a threat. It’s a moral and civic imperative.
My point: Trump cannot behave in ways that dramatically defy democratic principles and then have his sycophants cry foul about sharp, but earned, criticism whan someone like Ryan Routh tries to harm Trump. The chain leading to the shooting didn’t start with Dem rhetoric — it started with outrageous undemocratic behavior by Trump that represent real, documented threats to democracy.
The logic of blaming Democrats for inciting someone like Routh is backward. It’s Trump’s own pattern of conduct—his persistent attacks on democratic institutions, his incitement of political violence, his refusal to respect the basic tenets of governance—that creates the environment for such reactions. Of course the dems will respond with harsh rhetoric — but it’s a response, and a valid one, to predicate behavior by Trump that i the true cause of any extremist outcome like an assassination attempt. Without the extreme behavior by Trump, there would be no apocalyptic rhetoric from dems. Trump’s extreme behaviors have consequences one of which is legitimate harsh criticism from Dems. And that criticism, far from being overheated, is often not heated enough given the threat that Trump poses.
The term “sanewashing” has become a thing lately. “Sanewashing” refers to the media or public figures softening, normalizing, or sanitizing the extreme or dangerous behavior of individuals like Trump. When journalists or commentators hold back from labeling Trump’s actions for what they truly are—a threat to democracy—they are engaging in sanewashing. This reluctance to confront Trump’s behavior as it is, out of fear that calling him out might be seen as “too harsh” or “politically divisive,” is a dereliction of duty. And here we are, in the aftermath of another assassination attempt, hearing calls for the left to effectively self-censor its criticism and, in doing it, “sanewash” Trump’s outrageous behavior. This perpetuates the problem by normalizing Trump’s undemocratic behavior, creating an illusion that things aren’t as dire as they actually are.
Trump’s predictable attempt to sidestep accountability by blaming his critics is old news. He does it every time he’s faced with consequences. But let’s be clear: the accountability we’re talking about here isn’t about the shooter—it’s about Trump facing the criticism he’s earned. And that criticism is far from overheated. It’s perfectly heated.
Calling out Trump for being a threat to democracy isn’t hyperbolic. It’s an essential truth that must be spoken loudly and clearly. Anything less would be to engage in the very sanewashing that has allowed Trump’s dangerous behavior to persist unchecked for far too long. And that silence, not the words of Democrats, is what endangers us all.