The Legitimized MAGA Politics of Violence

The Legitimized MAGA Politics of Violence

Knowing Incitement, Consistent Use of the Rhetoric of Violence/Blame/Derision, Vandalism, Intimidation, Bombs and Guns

“The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust. Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!” 

Donald Trump on Truth Social, September 16th

“Let’s be clear: The most significant cause of the upsurge in political violence — including the two attempts on Trump’s life — is Trump himself, along with his close allies Vance and Elon Musk, and other cranks and crackpots that have come along for the ride.” 

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, September 23rd.

I start with a question: today, are there three mainstream political parties in the United States? Republican, Democratic and MAGA? I say this because I grew up in a Republican family, even remember debating “Tommy Reston” favoring Dem Adlai Stevenson as I stood for GOP Dwight David Eisenhower during our elementary school (John Eaton Elementary in Washington, DC) “presidential debates.” While there may have been undercurrents we were insufficiently prepared to understand, we did not have personal insults or visions of ultra-violence from the actual candidates to consider. Both were honorable men with political differences.

I cannot bring myself to believe that today’s MAGA provocative and most violent rhetoric, the cry to step outside the Constitution, to defund the FBI and coop the DOJ as the president’s personal police force to prosecute and incarcerate political opponents, etc., etc. – the rantings of a severely disturbed human being, deep with anger – represent the party platform of the Grand Old Party of my youth. Is it gone or simply replaced and rendered powerless? I do not hear comparable rhetoric from the Democratic side, despite Trump’s quote above. On September 23rd, former Labor Secretary (under Bill Clinton) Robert Reich summarized that Trump-led MAGA assault:

“Trump’s proclivity for violence was evident when he urged his followers to march on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, knowing they were carrying deadly weapons… He has urged supporters to beat up hecklers; mocked the near-fatal attack on the husband of the Democratic House speaker; suggested that a general he deemed disloyal be executed; threatened to shoot looters and undocumented migrants; warned of ‘potential death & destruction’ if indicted in his New York criminal case; made the ludicrous claim that ‘Babies are being executed after birth’; and predicted a ‘bloodbath’ if he’s not elected in November… Trump has never taken responsibility for the consequences of his hatefulness.

“He still insists he was not responsible for the attack on the Capitol. Yet since the attack, he has suggested the mob might have been correct in wanting to hang his vice president. And he has called for those arrested in connection with the attack to be released, casting them as ‘hostages,’ ‘political prisoners,’ and ‘patriots,’ whom he will pardon if reelected… His incendiary rhetoric about immigrants — calling them ‘vermin,’ claiming they’re ‘poisoning the blood’ of America, charging that the United States is ‘under invasion’ from ‘thousands and thousands and thousands of terrorists’ — is worsening the hate and violence.”

As Donald Trump, echoed by JD Vance, refers to Kamala Harris as “stupid,” “mentally disabled” and “mentally impaired,” adding that her VP candidate, Governor Tim Walz is a “moron,” there has been some pushback from some major Republicans who are (finally) realizing that reelecting Donald Trump just might be the worst GOP result in November. As pointed out in the October 1st New York Times: “Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, pushed back on Mr. Trump’s remarks on Sunday [9/29]. ‘I just think the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country,’ Mr. Graham said on CNN, adding that he did not think Ms. Harris was crazy but did think her policies were.

“Representative Tom Emmer — a Minnesota Republican who has been helping Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Mr. Trump’s running mate, prepare for his upcoming debate — also sought to distance himself from Mr. Trump’s personal attacks. ‘I think we should stick to the issues,’ Mr. Emmer said on ABC News… Larry Hogan, a former Republican governor of Maryland who is currently running for the Senate, offered a sharper rebuke… ‘I think that’s insulting not only to the vice president, but to people that actually do have mental disabilities,’ Mr. Hogan, who has often criticized Mr. Trump in the past, said on CBS News. ‘I’ve said for years that Trump’s divisive rhetoric is something we can do without.’” JD Vance’s VP debate performance was a smoother presentation of MAGA fabrications than Trump’s rambling litany of lies, blame and personal insults.

The MAGA candidates’ proclivity to lie and fabricate led to a Trump/RNC demand that CBS not fact-check the VP candidates during their debate… suggesting otherwise, Vance would pass. The notion that this vituperative force represents “Christian values” is also facing pushback, like this statement in the October 1st Baptist Standard: “More than 200 evangelical Christian leaders—moderates as well as influential conservatives—have signed an open letter urging the presidential candidates of both parties to reflect ‘biblical principles on immigration.’

“While challenging both parties, the letter signals particular discomfort with the approach taken by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, to the issue… The letter, released Sept. 30, was organized by the evangelical humanitarian aid organization World Relief and signed by the group’s vice president of advocacy and policy, Matthew Soerens, as well as Timothy R. Head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Daniel Darling of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; and National Association of Evangelicals President Walter Kim.” The rhetoric of violence, insults and threats was never a part of mainstream GOP or Christian thought. Why do voters anywhere believe that this rising MAGA violence, supported by a mainstream candidate for President, has any place in American elections? It most certainly does not! This ability to reconfigure violence inciting conduct and speech as benign “free speech” – very much reflected in the debate performances of both Trump and Vance – just might kill off American democracy.

I’m Peter Dekom, and while today I am a Democrat, I would most certainly welcome the return of a two-party system with a functional Republican Party.