Opinion : Letter to the Editor: Violent Rhetoric

To the Editor,

For over eight years, the American public has heard disrespectful, hateful, and yes, violent rhetoric from Trump and a variety of Republican office holders and members. Trump’s speeches are not only filled with lies but with dangerous language with pervasive violent images. Fast forward to the campaign of 2024. The Heritage Foundation puts out a 900-page manifesto on how the next republican president can tear down our democracy bit by bit. Despite what Trump says, Project 2025 is right out of what Trump spouts at his rallies.

Now because a fellow Republican who almost assassinated Trump, (clear motives have yet to be determined,) according to the Trumpers, it is the Democrats and President Biden’s fault because they are bringing to light the violent rhetoric of the Trump campaign and the plan to change our democracy that the far right is espousing. Let me be very clear, I do not condone violent speech of any kind but come on, do all of you Trumpers really think that the public has not heard the violent speech from Trump the last 8 years?

Here is just a sampling of Trump’s statements and actions.

Trump stoked the fires of not accepting the results from the 2020 election months before the election, would not state that he would accept defeat and has not conceded yet, (before someone writes back saying Hillary Clinton did not concede that is a lie.) When legal means could not overturn the election, Trump went on to say that there would be a “stop the steal” rally on January 6, 2021, that will be “wild” and encouraged his supporters to attend. Then he went on to make an incendiary speech before encouraging his followers to go to the Capitol to stop the certification of the election. Trump also said “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.” He then spread his attack on VP Pence. It is on video that when he sent out a tweet saying Pence did not do what was expected that the crowd became more violent and chanted “hang Mike Pence” as Trump sat in the White House dining room for over two hours reportedly very curious if not gleeful that the Capitol was getting invaded and law officers were getting injured.

Trump is currently setting the stage for another coup attempt if the election does not go his way and has even said that it would be “bloodbath” if he does not win.

More quotes from Trump that are already in the vernacular.

“Maybe he should have been roughed up.”

“Knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. … I will pay for the legal fees.”

“You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher folks.”

“I’d like to punch him in the face. I’ll tell you.”

“They used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know they would not do it again so easily.”

There are so many instances where Trump and his followers have many violent statements it would take a volume to recount those. But let us fast forward to Trump’s announcement speech at Waco where he stated, “They’re not coming after me. There are coming after you—and I’m just standing in their way, and

I am going to be standing their way for a long time.” (Tired of Winning, Karl, pages 18-19) Trump has since said many times that he is “your retribution.”

Rather than just waving to let the public know he was ok, Trump violently raised his fist and said “fight, fight, fight” after the attempted assassination last Saturday. Now the Republican convention has been chanting the same thing on numerous occasions Monday. Not exactly toning it down, is it? Reminds me of rhetoric from 1930’s.

I am sure that many of the local Trumpers agree with many of the violent statements and Project 2025 if you bother to read it, but I can write every week until the election exposing Trump and the Trump Republican Party and not run out of material. Just remember that when some of you start commenting.

I also have to chuckle from a comment made on Tuesday from Senator Ron Johnson. I did not watch the convention so I don’t what he said but it has been reported that his speech must have been incendiary as Johnson is trying to walk it back by saying that the wrong speech was placed on the teleprompter. Could it be like Alito that the wife, did it?

There are so many examples of Trump’s hateful and violent speech. I can continue to go through more if needed but this whole exercise is to set the record straight on the complicity of the Republicans when it comes to violent rhetoric. Again, I do not condone violent speech for either party but let us try at least to be a little fair when assigning blame especially when Trump is the Republican standard bearer. One last thing, just because Trump was a victim of an assassination attempt, it does not change who he is and what the Trump Republican Party has turned into. He doesn’t get a free pass because some other Republican tried to take him out.

Rosemary Schwartz