Trump's Condemnations of Violence Aren’t Convincing His Supporters
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
...Trump’s frequent, obvious insincerity is dangerous, because there are times when the president must be trusted. On Friday, Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old Florida Republican, was arrested for sending explosive devices to Democratic leaders and prominent Trump critics, including CNN. For the past week, the president has issued the rote condemnations of political violence that one would expect from a U.S. president. The problem is that there’s no reason to believe he means a word of it.
As David Frum writes , Trump has not made any gestures of sympathy toward those targeted. Instead, he has framed himself as the true victim of an attempt to assassinate leaders of the opposition party and suggested that the anger that led to the bombs was the result of the media being too critical of him. Last week, the president praised a congressman who, in an act of utter cowardice, physically attacked a reporter who asked him a question; at other times, the president has encouraged his supporters to attack anti-Trump protesters by offering to pay their legal bills . In the meantime, the Republican Party has been running ads accusing Democrats of encouraging violence , even as the president does just that publicly, a gambit some in the media have rewarded by suggesting that left-wing protesters heckling politicians in restaurants is a kind of violence.
An irony of this discourse is that conservative Trump defenders, and some in the media, have adopted a version of the oft-parodied argument among some on the left that words can constitute violence: Left-wing words are violence, and right-wing violence is just words.
Suffice it to say that individuals on both the left and the right are capable of political violence, as we saw with the mass shooting at a congressional baseball practice that ended with Republican Representative Steve Scalise being shot and nearly killed . Neither side of the aisle has a monopoly on virtue, and leaders from both parties should take care to ensure they are not encouraging violence from their supporters. Nevertheless, in the United States, acts of terrorism on the far right are more common than on the far left, and no figure in the Democratic Party has celebrated or encouraged political violence against opponents the way Trump has .
Trump is not personally responsible for the actions of a lone bomber—but he is responsible for how he handles those actions, and for the messages he sends to his supporters about the acceptability of political violence.
During an appearance at the White House Friday for an event with a black conservative group, Trump told reporters : “We must never allow political violence to take root in America. We cannot let it happen. And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it—and to stop it now.”
Shortly afterward, some of those assembled began chanting “Soros,” referring to George Soros, the wealthy Jewish philanthropist who has been a frequent object of right-wing conspiracy theories , and who was targeted with a bomb earlier this week. Then they chanted “Lock them up” and “CNN sucks.” Trump laughed .
The president condemned political violence and called for unity. And not even his own supporters believed it. They, like Trump, were in on the joke.
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On Friday, Trump supporters chanted "Soros" as a derision, and then "lock them up", in the president*'s presence, and trump laughed. The next day 11 Jewish people were shot and killed in their place of worship. The killer was inspired in part by vitriol against Soros he had seen online.
If you are a right winger, make a comment about the article, not about the seeder or any other "liberal" on Newstalkers.
The article alleges that Trump has shown an attitude of indifference toward the political violence, demonstrated by such things as having shouts against one of the bomb targets, made by a group of Trump supporters, ring through the halls of the White House.
You should post this in the newly minted OP/ED category. It is an opinion piece, not news reporting.
If you took every single word, deed and action that Trump has done, then changed the name to Clinton or Obama, every right wing nut on the planet, every single Republican would have blown a gasket. Impeachment would already be done and over.
I have no idea why Bush and Trump get a free pass on everything. The Republican party acts like an actual cult. They want followers, not independent minded voters.
No doubt about it.
No doubt about it.
I sometimes think of the pop art paintings that are optical illusions which take time to see and image.
I sincerely hope and pray with all my heart that someday people who blindly follow him wake up to see the real image, the real Trump, the one who cares nothing for them.
Don't hold your breath. It's not in their DNA.
I sincerely hope and pray with all my heart that someday people who blindly follow him wake up to see the real image, the real Trump, the one who cares nothing for them.
What are they going to wake up from? Trump is whom they have been praying for in there evangelical churches for a very long time, this is the hate They want, they can go and kill as many people as they can and they have a President that adds fuel to the fire...
White nationalists, neo-Nazis etc see the media printing / publishing on going articles about the evils of white supremacists .. the fear that the supremacist instills in the heart and minds - the belief that these individuals numbers are growing and will obtain power through the current presidents 'sympathy' to their beliefs (it is not a movement, the media makes it a movement) is what has these groups hemorrhaging orgasms …. the general population is giving these groups power, as now their beliefs are feared once more...
The media is giving hate the power, not the president (albeit he is not helping the situation) …………. the best one can do during a conflict is understand the individuals that the conflict is with, something the US government failed miserably on in Iraq as it did when confronting Daesh …………….. the fear, the constant chanting of supremacy needs to be stopped, trying to block and harass at nationalist marches (that have happened for years without conflict) interfering with 'their' right to free speech ……….. these groups are being given what they want … now one among them has struck out and showed his evilness by destroying lives at worship - each time the media / 'We the People' lash out in anger or fear of this action taken by an evil bastard .. another supremacist gets his wings - think of them as a jihadist with a 'type' of suicide vest, except they do not desire 'virgins' .. they desire the recognition of their hate group .. the more recognition that can be achieved .. the more fear that can be instilled...
May Pittsburgh and the Jewish community find Peace once again - I cannot pretend to understand or even imagine their pain.
That's BS. What do you expect the press and communities to do - ignore terrorist attacks?
Bob, is that you?
Nope, Its me CM..goodbye