Republicans should not fall into the trap of blaming Democrats after Trump shooting
Republicans will be greatly tempted to blame Saturday’s attempted murder of Donald Trump on the Democrats and left-wing media.
They should resist.
Both the liberal party and media for years have depicted Trump as a would-be dictator and tyrant on the cusp of turning America into a fascist state.
On its June cover, The New Republic merged Trump’s face with Hitler’s and invited writers to imagine what the Trump dictatorship would look like.
On Sept. 1, 2022, Joe Biden lit Philadelphia’s Independence Hall in Nazi two-tone – red and black – and turned the birthplace of our democracy into one of Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies.
Biden warned in that Philadelphia speech that MAGA Republicans “are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.”
Yes, he was comparing MAGA Republicans to Hitler’s brown shirts.
You can’t deny Democrats were reckless
Those messages were irresponsible and overwrought, but so is much of the political speech in this country, and it didn’t start with The New Republic and Joe Biden.
We have long been a nation tightly coiled and eager to burst through the lines of good taste and judgment. Both right and left cross lines all the time.
If America has entered a new period in which political violence grows more common, well, both parties have left a long trail of highly exaggerated and provocative rhetoric.
When a man shot and killed five people at newspaper office in Maryland, Trump was accused of inciting the violence after having called the media the “enemy of the people." But rhetoric didn't kill those people. Bullets did. The gunman's hatred for the newspaper began long before Trump made his comment.
When a crazed gunman fired point blank at people at Tucson supermarket in 2011, severely wounding Gabby Giffords and killing six others, the Democrats blamed the Republicans.
They screamed at Sarah Palin for using gun imagery – rifle sights – on a campaign web page, and they blamed the conservative live-wires on talk radio for inciting the shooter.
They were wrong.
The right knows what it’s like to be the accused
The shooter was a severely mentally ill young man who disliked Giffords' grammar, which, by the way, was pristine. He was crazy.
Conservatives who have been the targets of these recriminations should learn from such moments and react differently — react in a conservative way. In fact, in that most conservative of ways.
Blame the shooter.
Whoever pulled the trigger is either evil or seriously cracked and is not representative of the American people. The vast, vast majority of us would never think to do something so vile.
The near miss in the attempted assassination of Trump presents an opportunity to start dialing down that impulse that makes us blame the wicked acts of one person on millions of Americans.
For Democrats, it’s a reminder that Donald Trump is a human being who bleeds real blood. He’s not the Hitler caricature you’ve created in your minds and have now put on the cover of The New Republic.
We should take heart that rank-and-file Democratic leadership stepped forward after the Trump shooting to express their genuine concern for his well-being and to condemn the violence.
Responsible Democrat leaders speak out
“Horrified by this apparent assassination attempt. ... Wishing President Trump a swift recovery."
— U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
“I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”
— Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"Lori and I are praying for President Trump, the Secret Service officers who protected him, those attending the event, and all of the first responders still on the scene.”
- Josh Shapiro, Democratic governor of Pennsylvania
"There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. ...We should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery."
-- Barack Obama, former U.S. president
I might reject their politics, but I recognize something American in their response. They make me proud they’re my countrymen.
On the right, I am warmed by the comment of an old friend — Zuhdi Jasser, an Arizona Republican candidate for Congress and one of the bravest men I know.
A devout Muslim, Jasser became a leading U.S. reformer of Islam after 9/11 — making himself the target of fierce and even dangerous backlash.
After news of the Trump shooting broke, Jasser tweeted out on the social media platform X, “This moment should remind us to listen to one another and to call on the better angels of our nature and come together as Americans.”
If Republicans are in doubt how they should respond to this shooting, do as Zuhdi Jasser has done.
Lead with grace.
Phil Boas is an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic. Email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Best conservative response to Trump shooting isn't to blame Democrats
