Trump can’t (and won’t) stop pushing violent rhetoric, images . . . Talk about the Shooting Here
Why Trump can’t (and won’t) stop pushing violent rhetoric and images, msnbc.com, Steve Benen, April 2024
Around this time four years ago, Donald Trump used social media to promote a video in which one of his supporters said, “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.” The then-president’s team claimed at the time that he watched the clip before sharing it with the public.
A month later, Trump promoted a different video in which a man in a golf cart with Trump campaign gear was seen shouting, “White power.” The racist language wasn’t hidden deep within a long video: It was audible roughly 10 seconds into the clip.
The back-to-back incidents left the political world with a couple of straightforward options: Either the then-president was promoting disgusting content he agreed with, or he was peddling videos he hadn’t watched, apparently indifferent to the message he was endorsing.
Four years later, the question lingers. NBC News reported:
A person is dead for going to the political rally of the candidate of his or her choice and this is how AB chooses to open a discussion about it? Maybe this post was in the works and the “Talk about shooting here” was hastily added. Otherwise it is just appalling.
Eric:
Yep, that is how I open it. He is known for advocating violence.
When you advocate violence which trump does, you do not get to choose how it comes to you or others. It is not trumps choice, my choice, or your choice. It is the person’s choice who was most impacted by trumps words. Maybe trump will shut up now about inciting his followers to violence. It does have an impact on those who are not his followers also.
“Even Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas explained in 2016 that Trump had ‘a consistent pattern of inciting violence.’”
Eric
I’ll tell you what is appalling: Trump has been talking violence and hate for eight years that I have been counting. And you come in here and take issue with Bill for reminding us of it because it is so tacky to so because someone got killed at a Trump rally. People like you make me ashaned to be a human being. Anything to score a point?
Long time ago a someone threw a punch at me, I caught his fist and locked his arm and pushed him face down on the pavement, Then he said “I don’t want to fight that way.” This is the way you are.
Kinda reminds me of the Southern newspapers during the Civil War. When the lists of dead soldiers were printed in the papers, everyone got mad at the Yankees. The South didn’t want to fight that way. It was just ungentlemanly for the Yanks to shoot back.
i do not know if the kid (apparently) who shot at Trump was a “lib” or just crazy, or someone mad at Trump for personal reasons…. but when you talk hate and violence you are creting a world where hate and violence happen.
Looked like a setup to me, kayfabe, “wrassling” locker-room drama. Ketsup
Joe had a real good week, in the limelight. Damn shame about the dead …
That picture with the flag and Trump’s fist in the air!
Secret Service anti sniper operation failed in front of the entire world!
As to promoting violence: “live by the sword….”
Maybe a little less US donations for industrial level mayhem funded by the US.
We always send bombs!
run-are you talking about July 8th’s conference call with donors wherein President Biden said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye”?
@lj,
Here’s Trump talking about Clinton in 2016:
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don’t know.”
Biden was probably referring to darts. I’m sure he has no intention of taking advantage of the Republican-majority SCOTUS decision authorizing presidents to break any laws in the course of their duties.
Right…darts.
@lj,
Since the shooter was a registered Republican, he probably drew inspiration from this:
Speaking in a small-town church last month, Mark Robinson, the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina, told the audience that “some folks need killing.”
“It’s time for somebody to say it. It’s not a matter of vengeance. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity!” Robinson, the lieutenant governor, said, according to a video of the speech surfaced by the New Republic.
little john
it’s a figure of speech. “bulls eye” meant “target of advertising for the election.” if you don’t understand that you are too dumb to be allowed to vote. on the other hand, you have about 70 million people just like you in this country. and billions more in the rest of the world. that bit is important because they will be coming for you with industrial strength violence soon as they get the chance.
and no, this is not a threat. merely a suggestion to the paddy’s of the world…assuming he is for real…and the oh so liberals who think we can stop aggression by not voting for Biden.
joel
i wouldn’t make too much of his being Republican. we don’t know what he was thinking. thing is, it is very easy for troubled minds to get “ideas” from the memes around them. civilization depends a great deal on replacing memes of violence and revenge with memes of tolerance and democracy.
i think it may be too late for us. what i hear from the Trumpists is that the shooting was a liberal plot to kill the Noble Trump [see picture of fist in air against flag background.. like it was iwo jima. what i hear from people who may know more about people than i do, that this guarantees a Trump victory in November. I can’t construct a decent conspiracy out of all this.
i did see a short video allegedly of the shooter saying he hated Republicans and Trump and…”you’ve got the wrong man.” i can’t even imagine where that video came from ..or went. just flashed on my screen and then was gone. do you know anything about that?
video of “shooter”:
saw it again..by accident. discussed on site previously not known to me. claiming it was a hoax by someone who sort of looked like Crooks. likely enough, but … came up awfully fast, on site i did know previously, and disappeared even faster. in the interests of my sanity, i will accept the “hoax” explanation.
figure of speech: oh. i forgot that 90% of the population doesn’t know what a figure of speech is. they believe in “literal interpretation” …of the Framers intent…of the Bible…of what they think coberly meant…of a man who “spoke only in parables” [lest the wicked hear, and turn, and i should save them].
i think this says something about the architecture of their brains and why civilization never gets anwhere before the forces of violence and stupidity brings the whole thing crashing down around us.
only in parables
oops. there i go again. i forget that none of you would know what i am talking about.
Thanks for confirming that you think 90% of people are too dumb to vote. Who’s the threat to democracy?
Have you ever considered that the “dumb” people you bully are looking around for an even bigger bully?
Did you see President Biden say he would fix Social Security by “making the rich pay their fair share”?
very small john
yes. i do think 90% of the people are too dumb to vote. unfortunately democracy is still better than tyranny [rule by a tyrant or king or “the rich and well-born.”] the Framers knew that “democracy” always leads to tyranny, because the people are easily led (stupid), so they built a system of checks and balances to limit democracy to prevent tyranny. The Right wants rule by themselves, so they are always careful to call America a “Republic” while pandering to “the people” who think they are defending freedom and democracy when they hate on people who want a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. the threat to democracy is the people behind Trump. he exists because the people are always looking for a bigger bully to lead them in beating up their enemies..that is, the people the bully tells them are their enemies.
i have never bullied anyone.
and yes i have seen Biden say “making the rich pay.” i have said that is a supid idea right here on Angry Bear. perhaps you missed it. it’s why i always include the True Left in my attacks on stupidity.I am also aware that my saying “stupid” makes me enemies. but at some point in my life i realized i no longer had time to flatter people who were determined to be wrong. I often am careful to say i include myself among the stupid. i have no desire to be king.
please don’t play the injured paw trick with me. even my dogs are smarter than that.
Crooks may have been a McConnell republican.
or a Lindsey Graham type
or a heritage foundation plan 2025 type
or flash registered type to vote for Nikki Haley!
Joel if you like I kind find all types of quotes in the past by Biden surrogates.
very small john
none of which you understand, but can draw conclusive conclusions from.
please spare us.
maybe you should find a maga talk group. they eat this stuff up. “own the libs!”
I have noticed this morning that all the media and the Republican leaders are calling for a toning down of the rhetoric. they cant tell the difference between hate rhetoric, and rhetoric that points out the hate rhetoric. they are good at playing this game.
i am not a conspiracy theorist because i can’t see how they could have manged it. but shooting Trump was always going to be good for Trump..or the people behind him. And sane people always knew that. Maybe it’s a Sirhan Sirhan kind of thing.
Little John:
What was the rest of the comment and who was Biden talking too?
“President Biden’s rhetoric against former President Donald Trump amped up in recent days, including at least one reference to Trump as a target.
‘It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” Biden said in a July 8 call with donors to this campaign. The quote was sent around by the Biden campaign to journalists after the call, a sign that the Biden team viewed the comment as part of their message rather than a gaffe.
Biden made the comment as he was trying to soothe donors, many of whom have become anxious about Biden’s chances in the November election after a disastrous debate performance. ‘We can’t waste any more time being distracted,’ Biden told the donors. ‘I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump… I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that.'”
Yes, Little John. Maybe the stupid and the ignorant can misinterpret the comment to mean something else when taken out of context.
“And now, the rest of the story.”
Get it right or do not quote it to me.
I’m glad we agree. Some people will take the bullseye comment literally. Maybe the assassin did.
little john
It can not be taken that way within the entire comment by Biden. The assassin did his own interpretation and was egged on by trump’s call to violence.
Do you also believe a woman in a mini-skirt who was raped was “asking for it”?
Little John:
DO YOU BELIEVE TRUMP DOES NOT INCITE VIOLENCE AS AN ANSWER TO EVERYTHING?
When violence is promoted as an answer to opposition and everything else, it is a two-way street. It is ok when it is someone else; but, it is not ok when it is trump. He promotes a violent society as an answer to all issues.
Don’t waste my time with hypotheticals. You are wrong.
Speaking of rape, is it ok for trump to rape women in women’s dressing rooms and meet women dressed in his PJs?
Again I ask has Sarah Palin been held responsible for cross-hairs she painted on congresspeople? The death and destruction that followed an assassin’s assault on an Arizona congresswoman ~ several dead, one a child, as many injured ~ responding to her painting crosshairs on congresspeople, her calls for violence?
Before you accuse anyone of anything clean up your own backyard
Has Sarah Palin been held responsible for cross-hairs she painted on congresspeople?
@Ten,
Sarah who?
Well, I did post more than a couple times if we ignore it it will go away …
ETA LOL ~ well, that was prescient …
Well I think for sure it complicates the search for alternatives to President Biden if the expectation is to aggressively campaign in public across the country. Harris would more or less be obliged if Biden withdrew, but others would not be. Prior to the shooting, I would say that Biden clearly could win in Wisconsin, so if the hurdle is that he can’t win, that fails in Wisconsin, which is 1/3 of the so-called “blue wall”. I doubt that the shooting changes much in Wisconsin really. Maybe the biggest Democratic concern is down-ballot in states that there is no point with respect to the Presidential race of applying the intensity evident in Wisconsin. If Biden were to get 5% less in CA, MA, NY, NJ, OH, FL, TX, and a long series of other states, it would be irrelevant to the Electoral College, but maybe not to the House and Senate. So what if he tells the party: “Thanks to the huge efforts in selected states, I can clearly win this.” At this point, I think that’s probable if they are working MI and PA just as hard. I’m WITH, it is not at all about the Dem nominee, which you can leverage to either side of goes/stays arguing.
In WI spellchecked to I’m WITH.
Eric
spell-check is evidence of the stupidity we will have to live by once the computers have entirely relieved us of the need to work. or think. thinking is futile anyway.
Last Week in Project 2025 Roundup …
Ten
yep. that’s what i was trying to say.
but hell, a wounded war hero pumping his fist in the air in front of an American Flag and yelling “Fight!”…
how can we fight against that….now that we have been told to tone down the rhetoric.
THIS is what all THAT is a distraction from
They’re panicking because someone posted nine hundred pages of notes on a criminal conspiracy. I don’t believe for one minute there was an assassination attempt, it was for show, all to distract the rubes from the plan to destroy America. We cannot let this distract us from what counts: they’re NAZIs, trying to overthrow the government
That dishonorable discharge didn’t change the oath I swore …
Ten Bears
I can’t see how they could have managed it. I suggested Sirhan Sirhan… a weak mind talked into it by experts. or maybe a Manchurian Candidate…a nind weakened and talked into …something…but struggling against it and changing his target at the last minute.
this would have had to involve forces that did not care if Trump was killed or not. He would have been useful to their cause..maybe more so…if he had been killed.
that’s if you enjoy conspiracy theories. i think they are best left to historians…and, of course…the Right and the people they fool.
Can learn a lot reading conspiracy theories. I’ve been at it 50 years
I’m starting to lean towards the mass shooter / suicide by cop fame
For most mass shooters it’s about the numbers. This guy could have been chasing John Wilkes Booth notoriety, or that kid that shot Reagan (who is still alive and quite comfortable, they say) …
Ten
suicide by cop may be a part of it for sure. from what i have heard, the kid was bullied, and therefor unhappy. make someone unhappy enough and they will either kill you or kill themself. i think the Columbine kids had the same problem. It’s not so much that America is gun besotted, as the kids are neglected and abused…by their peers, who are neglected and abused by their parents. and the only answer society has for it is to blame the unhappy kid, punish him, and eventually take his life one day at a time in prison. i am not a pollyanna, but i have had some experience with bullying.
i heard that American Indians were appalled that white men beat their children,
paddy
Heritage has announced that it is in criminal conspiracy to destroy the United States government and Constitution.
I think we debunked the bullseye canard. didn’t anyone tell you?
I have to agree with Eric, at least in a way. An emphasis on Trump’s violent rhetoric is misplaced in this instance. As obnoxious as his bloodsoaked expessions may be, this habit of Trumps speech is much more symptom than cause. Instead this will turn out be yet another tragedy activated by mental illness and our All American, bipartisan predilection for gun violence. You weren’t wondering, but we will not discover the shooter belonged to a well regulated militia. In all likelihood he was a member of a definitively unregulatable class.
Of course given the constitutional invisibilty of that clause, no one will even bother to ask. Just keep in mind our penchant for violence and our fear of gun regulation results in less freedom, not more. Please remove your shoes and put your electonic devices in the bin before replying to this post.
well geoff:
It could be ignored if this was a one-off remark. It is not and trump has a history of violent remarks.
@Geoff.
“bipartisan predilection for gun violence”
Uh, no. Democrats favor gun control. Republicans do not. Calling this “bipartisan” is silly, dishonest and absurd.
@tef,
“f I were running the secret service, I would be investigating those posting these off-the-wall comments on AB.
If I were the SS head, I would also offer my resignation”
So if you were running the SS you would both be investigating and resigning?
Erwin Shrodinger would be impressed.
in the box or not in the box…..
Someone tried to kill Trump and the SS could not stop 5 shots from the open!
When does bad luck become plot?
paddy
i’ve been wondering…from looking at your comments…is English your native language?
actually I think Shrodinger was not worried about in/out of the box, but alive/dead. I really do not know for sure what his point was or what real physicists make of it, but at least the journalist’s rendition of it does not seem to realize that the cat detects the neutron or whatever.
speaking of journalists’ rendition, i heard the five shots were from the secret service, the active shooter only got off three. you sure as hell don’t live in a non-deterministic universe: you can know the precise position and speed of every electron at the same time, all the time. i was in an active shooter situation once, and though i could not tell where the shooter was, i ran toward the sound of the gun, using words you don’t like to hear. he got the message and i never did see him. now, if you had been there you could have given the police artist a complete description, including motivation. why don’t you use your talent and write a complete pre-history of the world..not pre-history as in before writing, but “before it happens.” you could make a lot of money with that.
That’s funny. I have actually been “spoken to” for some of things I have both published and commented on at others’. Though they found (to scare me) it “borderline threatening” they conceded it was a reflection of the rhetoric I was responding to. Whoever put them up to it got visited too, and they actually had something to hide 😊
Seventeen years blogging (at my blog, another seven at blogs which remain unnamed and moderating bulletin boards) my priority has been to turn it back in their faces. To do unto them as they’re doin’ unto me. Doesn’t seem to have an effect. Believe it or not I’ve toned it down quite a bit ~ no point in wasting the air
I mean, seriously, these guys couldn’t find a guy with a rifle and a tripod jacking out in the wide open on a roof a hundred feet away
Threats of swatting are on parr with threats of jailhouse rape