On Saturday morning, Rep. Melissa Hortman, an influential Democratic state legislator from Minneapolis, was shot dead in her home, along with her husband. The killer also attempted to murder another Democratic legislator, state senator John Hoffman, and his wife, in their home-- the two were seriously wounded, but they survived. Threats of violence have become far too common in our politics, and here again, innocent people were paying a terrible price.
But the president, always on brand, told the press he would not call Minnesota's governor Tim Walz to express his condolences because he thinks Gov. Walz is a terrible governor. And some of Mr Trump's supporters quickly began social media mockery of what had happened to Hortman, one of the most respected Democrats in state government-- a tactic reminiscent of how they reacted when Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul was assaulted in 2022. Meanwhile, Elon Musk and others tried to claim (falsely) that it was someone from the "far-left" who murdered Hortman. That was not true. By all accounts, the killer was someone from the hard-right, and according to some who knew him well, a loyal Trump supporter.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the fear caused by this shocking political assassination, the president simply doubled down in his criticism of Democrats. He announced a new plan to ease up on enforcement of deportations in red states, and ramp them up in blue states. The goal, he said, is to focus on big cities, because they are "Democratic Power Centers." He went on to accuse Democrats of hating our country, being sick, violent, deviant, and of course, of intentionally bringing in "illegals" and allowing them to vote (you may be familiar with this claim-- it is better known as the "Great Replacement Theory").
Normally, I would ignore the usual heated rhetoric from Mr Trump, having heard much of it before. But this time, it seemed especially cruel, given how a Democratic leader was gunned down so recently, and another nearly killed, by someone who seems to have been immersed in exactly that kind of rhetoric. And sad to say, those who spend prolonged periods of time in the right-wing media echo chamber hear this sort of thing over and over.
I know what some of you are thinking: "But Donna, I can name a Democrat who said X or Y or Z, and that was awful too!" Agreed, there's angry rhetoric on both sides. And of course, not everyone who listens to violent rhetoric will decide to become violent. But some will, and in the case of Mr Trump, the endless hateful rhetoric has certainly created a permission structure. And while we can all point to some dumb thing politicians on both sides have said, these days there is only one side-- the party led by Mr Trump-- that consistently praises political violence.
There is ample evidence of this. Mr Trump and his supporters believe that the folks who attacked police officers on January 6, 2021 were "patriots" and deserved a presidential pardon. Mr Trump and his party remained silent recently when a Democratic senator was manhandled by officers and taken to the ground, just for trying to ask a question during a press conference. And it is Mr Trump and his supporters who repeatedly refer to Democrats, along with journalists, certain judges, and all undocumented immigrants, as "the enemy."
Again, I am in no way claiming that words alone lead to violence. We all know the old saying from our childhood that claims, "sticks and stones/may break my bones/but names will never hurt me." But in a culture that glorifies being tough, where so many people have easy access to weapons, and where an entire social media ecosystem is devoted to generating anger and outrage at "the other," often by distorting and misrepresenting what is actually happening, that childhood saying may be out of date. If you are immersed in hateful words, hateful images, and hateful media messages, the end result is hatred and distrust, and that could absolutely end up hurting some innocent person, as we have already seen.
On Saturday afternoon, millions of Americans, in red states and blue states, came out to express their love for the constitution and their support for our democracy. Nearly all of the "No Kings" protests were peaceful, as demonstrators sought to remind Mr Trump that he is not a monarch. It was an impressive example of the importance of the First Amendment, and it gave me a reason for optimism. But now, as the president once again returns to his familiar tactics of intimidation and demonization, it is worth remembering the powerful message so many of us sent: we will continue to defend our democracy. We will stand up against the hate and speak out against the madness. We are not "the enemy." Rather, we are people from all walks of life who want to see America be America again-- a country not ruled by corruption and tyranny, but by compassion and ethics. And we will not be silent. And we are not going away.
