Following the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump – President Biden addressed the nation saying “There is no place in America for this kind of violence or any violence for that matter. An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation.” Biden is correct, there is no place for violence, especially in a political campaign, but he is incorrect in saying that violence is contrary to who we are as a nation.
America itself was founded on violence - from the enslavement of African Americans to the genocide of Native Americans - the very foundation of this nation was built on violence. And political violence isn’t foreign either. President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, President Garfield was assassinated in 1881, President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in 1912, President Kennedy was killed by an assassin in 1963 along with his brother, Robert Kennedy in 1968. There were assassination attempts on President Ford’s life in 1975 along with President Reagan in 1981.
But we do not have to go that far back for examples of political violence in America. Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords survived an assassination attempt in 2011. Following the 2020 Election, insurrectionists stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election results – resulting in the death of 5 individuals. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi was nearly killed last year after a deranged man entered her home looking to harm the former Speaker.
In the last few years, we have seen an uptick in political leaders encouraging violence with incendiary language. In 2016, Mr. Trump said that “maybe the second Amendment people” could stop Hillary Clinton’s judicial picks (had she become President), a clear suggestion of violence against a political rival. Earlier this year, Trump posted a video with a hog-tied President Biden, and who could forget his role in inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Trump also mocked Paul Pelosi after he was attacked. Kevin Roberts, the President of the Heritage Foundation who is responsible for Project 2025 recently said that “We are in the process of the second American Revolution… which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” North Carolina Republican Gubernatorial candidate Republican Mark Robinson recently said at a political event that “some folks need killing!”
Make no mistake about it, there are some people who are perfectly fine with political violence as long as it is not directed towards them. You cannot condemn Trump’s assassination attempt while at the same time calling the January 6th insurrectionists, patriots. You cannot condemn one attack but mock another or remain silent when the Governor of Michigan is threatened or when election workers are being harassed. The assassination attempt on Mr. Trump was wrong and should be condemned along with all acts of political violence and intimidation.
America itself was founded on violence - from the enslavement of African Americans to the genocide of Native Americans - the very foundation of this nation was built on violence. And political violence isn’t foreign either. President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, President Garfield was assassinated in 1881, President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in 1912, President Kennedy was killed by an assassin in 1963 along with his brother, Robert Kennedy in 1968. There were assassination attempts on President Ford’s life in 1975 along with President Reagan in 1981.
But we do not have to go that far back for examples of political violence in America. Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords survived an assassination attempt in 2011. Following the 2020 Election, insurrectionists stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election results – resulting in the death of 5 individuals. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi was nearly killed last year after a deranged man entered her home looking to harm the former Speaker.
In the last few years, we have seen an uptick in political leaders encouraging violence with incendiary language. In 2016, Mr. Trump said that “maybe the second Amendment people” could stop Hillary Clinton’s judicial picks (had she become President), a clear suggestion of violence against a political rival. Earlier this year, Trump posted a video with a hog-tied President Biden, and who could forget his role in inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Trump also mocked Paul Pelosi after he was attacked. Kevin Roberts, the President of the Heritage Foundation who is responsible for Project 2025 recently said that “We are in the process of the second American Revolution… which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” North Carolina Republican Gubernatorial candidate Republican Mark Robinson recently said at a political event that “some folks need killing!”
Make no mistake about it, there are some people who are perfectly fine with political violence as long as it is not directed towards them. You cannot condemn Trump’s assassination attempt while at the same time calling the January 6th insurrectionists, patriots. You cannot condemn one attack but mock another or remain silent when the Governor of Michigan is threatened or when election workers are being harassed. The assassination attempt on Mr. Trump was wrong and should be condemned along with all acts of political violence and intimidation.
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