Yes! Trump does deserve blame for the Dayton massacre! [View all]

[unitedwethrive]

Whenever a leader, particularly a national leader, spreads hate and divisiveness – both sides are enraged. As a liberal, every time he tries to divide people by calling out our differences, I become angrier. Heck, even the way he shortens the name of my political party (I guess in an effort to harshen the sound of it?) makes me mad.

Now imagine someone who has violent tendencies, and access to guns (not hard to imagine in this country) – and anger on both sides of the division can lead to the same outcome. Of course the white supremacists are more likely to act violently, since that is part of their philosophy, but pushed hard enough, members of any group – or no group at all – can do the same.

It is not known how much politics or group identity played a role in the Dayton terrorist’s motivations. We can’t rule out the possibility that his internet comments were meant to mislead investigators, particularly since random violence goes against everything progressives believe. But no matter what his intention, the climate in our country certainly played a big part in his actions.

The tone of a president such as Obama was entirely different. Yes, he called out those with which he had substantive disagreements, but at the heart of everything he said was that we should come together as Americans. That message from our leader turned down the volume on all the anger. Sure, those who wanted to be riled up found a way to be, but the air was not electric with hate, the way it is now.

Yes, having a president who openly preaches hate from the White House incites all of the American people. Such strong rhetoric ultimately begs people to choose a side, and the blame for this lies squarely on his shoulders.