Incitement to Political Violence Started with Trump and Can End With Him
by Dean Obeidallah | 12:55 pm, June 15th, 2017
No, leaders on the left have not incited political violence as the Newt Gingrich’s and Donald Trump, Jr.’s want you to believe. Yet we heard this sentiment voiced after the horrific terrorist attack Wednesday on GOP members of Congress in Alexandria, Virginia.
To support this false narrative, Newt Gingrich was on Fox News yesterday specifically targeting Kathy Griffin and the New York production of Julius Caesar -where Caesar is depicted as in essence Trump -as creating the environment that led to the attack. Donald Jr., as well as countless others echoed a similar view on Twitter.
But the reality is that Griffin and the play’s producers are neither leaders of the Democratic Party nor the progressive movement. They are private citizens and Griffin was widely criticized by people on the left – including me- for her use of violent imagery involving Trump. (Interestingly when a production of Julius Caesar was staged in 2012 with a black Caesar representing President Obama, a well-known conservative publication praised the play.
In contrast, however, the person who has incited, encouraged and defended political violence is none other than the now head of the Republican Party: Donald J. Trump. We saw this countless times during the campaign. For example, Trump stunningly told his supporters after one punched a protester, “We need a little bit more of” that. And lets not forget Trump reminiscing with his supporters about the days when political violence was commonplace, “I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
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http://www.mediaite.com/online/incitement-to-political-violence-started-with-trump-and-can-end-with-him/
= new reply since forum marked as read
.. but the incitement to political violence predates trump.
It's as old as our country, at least. Within the last century, you've had people whipping each other into violent political frenzies about: prohibition, women's suffrage, jim crow, miscegenation, school integration, civil rights, and reproductive choice just off the top of my head.
From pulpits, AM radio, the local editorial section of newspapers, political rallies, school board meetings, to now the internet, cable TV, and social media.. it's been ubiquitous for generations.
