The Dire Consequences Of Trump’s Reckless Rhetoric
President Donald Trump speaks at the North Side Gymnasium in Elkhart, Ind., Thursday, May 10, 2018, during a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Updated 9:30 am ET – October 26, 2018
In moments of great crisis, the American people look to the president to assuage their fears. In times of divisiveness, we look to the president to unite us. In times of volatile political violence, the president is supposed to encourage peaceful coexistence. But that is not the case in 2018. Instead, the American people have come to expect the president to exacerbate crises, stoke divisiveness, and encourage political violence. President Trump is perpetuating the very things he has sworn to protect the American people from.
President Trump has long called the media the “enemy of the people,” called for his political opponents like Hillary Clinton to be jailed, questioned Barack Obama’s place of birth, and framed Democrats as “evil” enemies. And just last week, President Trump praised GOP Congressman Greg Gianforte for criminally body slamming reporter Ben Jacobs. This week, there was an attempted mass murder committed by a domestic terrorist(s) targeting Trump critics that include former Democratic presidents, senior Democratic political leaders, a former director of the CIA, and the Time Warner Center where CNN is located.
Let me be clear: the suspect has not yet been caught, and I am in no way definitively claiming that the individual(s) responsible for this is a supporter of President Trump. But one cannot ignore the fact that all of the people targeted have been relentlessly vilified by the president. We also have a responsibility to call out the president’s continued vilification of those targets.
As more bombs were still being discovered, President Trump decided to break from the script he was sticking to. On Thursday morning, Trump attacked the New York Times for their report on his iPhone usage being spied on by China and Russia, and then went on to attack the media as a whole.
The day after a bomb was sent to CNN, Trump continues his reckless attacks, calling the media fake news and blaming them for the anger HE is causing.
This tweet can only be read as “you asked for it.”
Trump is unfit to lead sheep, let alone a nation.https://t.co/GepZFOgoXx
— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) October 25, 2018
And then on Friday morning at around 3 am, as bombs were still being discovered, President Trump directly attacked CNN.
Trump was up at 3am tweeting this…
The response is easy:
The press is supposed to criticize the President.
The President is not supposed to call the press the enemy of the people and praise a GOP congressman who criminally body slamming a reporter.https://t.co/Yo7JunplDU
— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) October 26, 2018
As of Friday morning, there have been a total of 10 bomb targets and 12 bombs. All of the pipe bombs have a similar function and packaging. And all of the people who experienced these attempted assassinations have been repeatedly vilified and deemed enemies by the President of the United States.
- Billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros (sent to his home in New York)
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (sent to her home in New York)
- Former President Barack Obama (sent to his home in Washington)
- Former CIA Director John Brennan (sent to CNN- the Time Warner Center in New York)
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder
- Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA (One bomb sent to LA, another sent to Maryland’s congressional mail sorting facility)
- Actor Robert De Niro
- Former Vice President Joe Biden (One sent to New Castle, DE, another sent to Wilmington)
- Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
- Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper
Millions of Americans watched as CNN evacuated live on air.
WATCH: CNN had to abruptly stop broadcasting from its studio in NYC while covering a story about bombs being sent to the Clintons and Obamas because an alarm suddenly went off about a “suspicious device” in the building.
Scary stuff. pic.twitter.com/BKVnkdYpbZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2018
It’s important to point out that much of the criticism President Trump levels at the people who have been targeted are completely baseless, and often riddled with numerous lies.
While the president continues his attacks on his critics, prominent members of conservative media are perpetuating a false conspiracy theory, backed by absolutely no evidence, that these attacks are a false flag operation. Donald Trump Jr. liked one of the tweets pushing this theory.
so much civility today pic.twitter.com/calx2x6YfN
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) October 25, 2018
What Donald Trump and his allies are doing is dangerous. This isn’t a game. Lives are at risk. The President of the United States is cultivating an environment where political violence is encouraged, and gaslighting his supporters into a state of such hatred and delusion that they are willing to concoct half-baked theories rather than believe the “fake news” media.
The president is supposed to remind Americans of their common values, not lie to them about their differences. President Trump’s political platform is to divide and conquer. And now we have further proof he is willing to continue his culture war, even if there may be casualties.
Needless to say, this is on the ballot on November 6th. You aren’t just about to vote for what policies you believe in, but what kind of country you want to live in.
The choice is clear.
