The most important move Trump made in his remarks [about the assasination of Charlie Kirk] was to define political violence as an exclusively left-wing tactic. He listed a series of events carefully selected to implicate his enemies and exonerate his allies. Trump’s list goes back to the 2017 shooting of Steve Scalise, but omits the shootings of two Democratic legislators at their homes earlier this summer. It does not mention the 2020 attempted kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, or the brutal attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022 (which Trump has used as a punch line to mock the victim).
Notably, Trump’s list ignores the shooting just one month ago at CDC headquarters, in which a man protesting COVID-19 vaccines fired more than 180 shots at the building and killed a police officer, but includes “attacks on ICE agents,” which have not involved gunfire. Trump of course handed out pardons to supporters who brutalized police officers on January 6, 2021. This week, his allies in the Senate defended his bestowal of military honors upon Ashli Babbitt, who was shot trying to smash her way through the Capitol in the insurrection attempt.
Every political movement in history, including the most bloodthirsty, has condemned political violence by its opponents. The only real test is whether you also oppose political violence by your allies. This is a test Trump has repeatedly failed.
– “Trump’s Dangerous Response To The Kirk Assassination,” The Atlantic
