In the wake of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, there are calls to “lower the temperature” and “tamp down” violent rhetoric. Saturday night there was some hope that maybe, possibly, those in the legacy media would be doing some introspection about their own words and their blindness to violent rhetoric from Democrat officeholders, especially since an innocent man who was simply exercising his First Amendment right by attending a Trump rally was brutally murdered in front of his wife and children as a result of that rhetoric.
Immediately after the assassination attempt, there was no shortage of heartless and ignorant remarks by the legacy media. Still, I naïvely believed that once it was clear just how narrow Trump’s escape was, and once we learned that Corey Comperatore died while protecting his wife and daughters from the assassin’s bullet and that two other attendees were in critical condition. Once everyone had a little sleep, we wouldn’t hear those remarks at least from those in the legacy media or from Democrats.
I was wrong.
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Meet the Press’ Kristen Welker interviewed an emotional Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) about the attack. She noted what a close call it was and the emotion that Sen. Graham was feeling, and Graham correctly called out the rhetoric as being “way too hot.”
I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’ve been worried about this for a very, very long time. You know, if he wins, democracy is not going to end. He’s not a fascist. He represents a point of view that millions share. The rhetoric is way too hot.
Welker agreed that the rhetoric is way too hot, but not in a logical, reality-based way. Her response was to call out Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), for allegedly contributing to harsh rhetoric, saying:
Senator JD Vance, as you know, a potential VP nominee, said, in the wake of the shooting, quote, “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Another Republican congressman, Mike Collins, said, quote, “Joe Biden sent the orders.”
Of course, Welker wasn’t going to give Rep. Collins the benefit of assuming that he didn’t mean that Biden literally sent an order for Trump to be shot or acknowledging that he clearly meant that Biden’s rhetoric led to the attack.
There was not a single mention in the entire show transcript of any participant – including a few Republicans – mentioning any of the numerous incendiary remarks made by Joe Biden and other Democrats in the lead-up to Saturday’s assassination attempt.
The conversation between George Stephanopoulos and Martha Raddatz on ABC’s This Week was much, much worse, though.
And this is a country divided, this is a country, we saw the violence yesterday, the horrific violence yesterday, and we’ve seen it in places.
And we’ve also seen this morning, we — we’ve heard President Trump say he wants the country to come together to be united. But others are directly pointing the finger at President Biden, with, of course, no evidence that he incited this or — or had anything to do with this assassination attempt.
No evidence that Biden incited this? Here are just a few selections from Biden’s recent speeches.
Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.
He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2024
Then we have the lies about Project 2025 and Biden’s words that it’s “deadly serious.”
Project 2025 is deadly serious.
America needs to wake up and realize what Trump and MAGA Republicans are trying to do.
We’re going to stop them.pic.twitter.com/fPnzKFIqgB
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 13, 2024
And then on Friday, Biden stated that Trump would be a “dictator” on day one.
Trump has said that if he wins, he’ll be a dictator on day one.
And folks, he means it. Just look at this right-wing Project 2025—the blueprint for the second Trump term.
I will not let that happen.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 12, 2024
Then Raddatz also referenced Sen. Vance’s tweet. She didn’t dispute Vance’s characterization of Biden’s words; perhaps that’s too much of a lie even for her. But she again falsely claimed there was no evidence for his statement that Biden’s rhetoric led to the attack before moving on to another prominent Republican:
And others also, Ramaswamy, Vivek Ramaswamy saying President Biden’s ritual condemnation of political violence are insufficient. No amount of verbiage today changes the toxic national climate that led to this tragedy.” Saying that, “Trump’s safety is nothing short of an act of God.” And I think you’ll see a lot of supporters thinking the same thing.
Yes, Martha, the ritual condemnation of political violence is insufficient when Joe Biden has spent the last three years demonizing Donald Trump.
“President Trump and his supporters have contributed to this violent rhetoric as well” – @GStephanopoulos on #ThisWeek 15 hours after assassination attempt on Trump. @MarthaRaddatz: “Absolutely, George….And let’s remember January 6th.” pic.twitter.com/VJs38FgAiU
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) July 14, 2024
Then Stephanopoulos inserts his “me too!” and specifically claims that “Trump and his supporters have contributed to this violent rhetoric as well. Raddatz used the springboard she was provided:
Well, absolutely, George. We were just looking back this morning at some of the things that former President Trump has said. He warned last March of potential death and destruction if he were charged by the Manhattan district attorney. “Our country is being destroyed as they tell us to be peaceful.” Trump, in January, warned of bedlam in the country if the criminal charges against him succeeded.
And, of course, in March, he said, now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a blood bath for the whole (ph). That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it.” He said he was partly joking and that that was taken out of context. But those are, indeed, his words.
Trump indeed said the word “bloodbath,” in talking about the economy. It was absolutely taken out of context and to suggest differently is, to put it it bluntly, a lie. Martha Raddatz knows this, but she has to try to find some way to make this Trump’s fault, to make some kind of false equivalence between Trump’s imagined statements and the actual statements from the Left.
And then, the pièce de resistance – mentioning January 6, which has absolutely nothing to do with the attempted assassination.
And you have heard it from supporters as well, and supporters are certainly, in some parts, angry. And let’s remember January 6th. In so many ways for the campaign, January 6th will probably be in the background after yesterday’s event. This is a very difficult time for this campaign.
Just absolutely shameful.
We must redouble our efforts to call out the lies, the gaslighting, and the misinformation these propagandists spew. That, and prayer, is our only hope.
