The morning after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, Fox News’ Lawrence Jones told viewers, “No side owns political violence, both sides have participated in this. But there is one side that continues to say that the other side is ‘evil’ and ‘hateful.’”
Oddly enough, I’m inclined to agree, though not in the way the Fox News co-host probably meant.
In the weeks since Kirk’s slaying, countless Republicans have repeated effectively the same line: Democrats and their allies on the left have created a dangerous political climate. Words such as “fascist,” the argument goes, are so incendiary that they inspire violence, such as the shooting that killed Kirk.
There are plenty of problems with the GOP’s pitch, but near the top of the list is the fact that Donald Trump keeps using the kind of rhetoric that his party keeps condemning. HuffPost reported:
President Donald Trump called the Democrats ‘the party of hate, evil, and Satan’ in a Truth Social post on Thursday. That’s the headline over an entry he shared featuring mostly awkward photos of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden.
This is bound to help resolve the government shutdown, right?
It’s not clear who, exactly, created the image that the president promoted, but Trump really did amplify a message that explicitly called Democrats “The Party Of Hate, Evil, And Satan.” (More than 12 hours later, the online item has not been taken down.)
The reference to “Satan” was unusual for the president, but broadly speaking, the rhetorical push was entirely in line with his recent messaging. At Kirk’s memorial service, for example, Trump talked about how much he “hates” his political opponents — echoing a word he has repeated many times in reference to his contempt for Americans he disagrees with.
At a recent White House Faith Office luncheon, the president also condemned Democrats as “evil people.”
All of this dovetailed with Trump telling Americans that his political opponents are “fascists,” who are also guilty of “treason.” His domestic foes, the president has added, are also “enemies of the people,” “the enemy within” and “threats to democracy.”
The week after Kirk’s death, JD Vance appeared on Fox News made a comment about incendiary rhetoric that might’ve seemed reasonable at first blush. Referring to his party’s critics, the vice president said: “What is it that you want them to do when you call them ‘fascist’?” The Ohio Republican added, “This rhetoric is completely out of control.”
Two weeks later, as Trump calls Democrats the party of hate, evil and Satan, my question for Vance is simple: What is it that the president wants people to do when he pushes such a message?
