In times of crisis, we look to our elected leaders for wisdom, guidance and reassurance. As our executive director Vanessa Cárdenas at America’s Voice forcefully stated earlier this week, we look to the leaders of the country to lower the temperature, not raise the heat, in times of trial and uncertainty. Sadly, that’s not the kind of administration we have right now.
Following the brutal killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a speaking engagement at a Utah university last week, the administration and its allies have been pouring gasoline instead of water on the fire of violence in order to ratchet up a government-sanctioned campaign of retribution against their perceived political enemies. Even before a suspect had been publicly identified and his motives examined, the administration blamed the “radical left” for the killing and listed off a number of violent incidents that have plagued our nation, including an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last year. There were some glaring omissions, however.
The administration did not name “violence against Democrats, such as the murder of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota state lawmaker, and her husband, and the shooting of another Democratic state lawmaker and his wife in June,” The Guardian noted. Also omitted was the horrific 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as the threats against former Vice President Mike Pence during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
This refusal to condemn any and all forms of political violence is not at all surprising for those who have been following this administration’s words and actions. Many of us remember the disturbing claim from back in June 2015 that Mexican immigrants were bringing drugs, crime, and sexual violence into our country. The rhetoric descended even further since then.
In one of the most horrific examples of right wing-inspired political violence in recent years, the legal defense of the mass shooter who was motivated by white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories and terrorized the El Paso community in August 2019 pointed at the administration. The mass shooter, who was obsessed with a so-called “Hispanic invasion” of Texas, “believed he was acting at the direction” of the administration “when he murdered 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019,” his attorney told El Paso Matters this past year.
“He thought he had to stop the invasion because that’s what his president was telling him, which is just not rational,” said his attorney, Joe Spencer. “He thought, if he doesn’t do it, then nobody’s going to do it. He’s got to start.”
The administration and its political allies have, repeatedly and without hesitation, sought to normalize the fiction that an “invasion” of immigrants is real. Following the mass shooting at the El Paso Walmart, one report revealed that the administration had used words like “invasion” to discuss our immigrant neighbors hundreds of times.
Rather than toning down the rhetoric – as the administration and its allies have demanded of others in recent days – this conspiracy theory once confined to the dark corners of the internet was echoed, shouted, and advertised in a $900 million dollar campaign by pro-Republican outfits during the 2024 presidential race. And despite El Paso’s death count, many Republicans embraced the white nationalist conspiracy as their own and advanced it as a core part of their messaging. In 2024 alone, we tracked 165 members of this Congress who amplified the replacement conspiracy theory and invasion rhetoric.
Following Kirk’s death, administration officials used Kirk’s podcast to promise to enact the state-sponsored targeting of groups they simply just don’t like. “They praised Mr. Kirk’s commitment to free speech while threatening to exact a price against the ‘far left’ that they accused of fomenting political violence in America,” The New York Times reported. Notably, this included a threat to go after left-leaning groups “that foments, facilitates, and engages in violence.”
This response gives away the game, as Noah Berlatsky writes at the Public Notice newsletter. From the administration on down, “those on the right have not honored Kirk by calling for civility and peaceful debate. They have rushed to use Kirk’s death as an excuse to silence dissent and to terrorize those they perceive as their enemies. Their success is a frightening sign of how far democratic norms have eroded under this president.”
It must be noted that on the same day of Kirk’s killing, American schoolchildren were also terrorized by gun violence, this time at a school in Colorado. The alleged gunman “appeared to develop a ‘deep fascination’ with mass shootings and shared neo-Nazi views online months before the attack,” USA Today reported.
This is tied to the consequences of the normalization of hate and political extremism that perpetuates violence. These are the consequences of when a major political party of the U.S. adopts a white nationalist nativism as their main platform. These are the consequences of when insurrectionists are treated like patriots. These are the consequences of having an administration that aims to divide. These are the pivotable moments where a country needs soothing from its leaders, not further agitation.
“We can and should have lively and passionate debates about policy and politics, even on challenging issues like immigration, without resorting to dangerous rhetoric about ‘invaders’ and ‘the Great Replacement’ theory or weaponizing immigration fears to support a crackdown against our fellow Americans; our own cities and communities; and our political opponents,” as Cárdenas wrote in her piece.
“Moments of crisis can be revealing – not only of the national mood but of our national leaders. Too many leaders’ response after this most recent instance of deadly political violence should trouble all of us, outside of our usual political and ideological camps,” Cárdenas continued. “We need more water, less gasoline.”
