I’m sure you recall this low point:
At a rally in Montana, Trump celebrated Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte, who body-slammed a reporter in May 2017, telling the crowd, “Any guy who can do a body-slam … he’s my guy.”
Gianforte assaulted journalist Ben Jacobs after Jacobs asked him a question about the GOP health care bill, on the day before Gianforte won election. He ultimately apologized (after his spokesperson first denied the assault) and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. Gianforte was sentenced with 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management, and a $300 fine along with an $85 court fee, in addition to a deferred 180-day jail sentence.
Gianforte is now the Governor of Montana.
We all know what happened on January 6th when Trump and his henchmen incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol during a joint session of congress and try to hunt down the Speaker of the House and the Vice President.
And now the violent right wing establishment is now openly threatening violence against elected officials:
That is a literal threat of violence. Of course, it isn’t the first to come from a Republican leader threatening officials over public health efforts:
President Donald Trump targeted Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia in tweets Friday calling for officials to “liberate” the states amid protests over stay-at-home orders aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19.
Trump first tweeted “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” Then, a minute later, the president tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”
Minutes after that, he added in another message, “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”
I am not one to blame the grotesque degradation of the GOP only on Donald Trump. It was a long time coming and the Republican establishment took full advantage of the radicalization by right wing media that was indoctrinating their voters. But I don’t recall Republican politicians routinely and openly advocating political violence until Trump.