Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently stated a plain truth that too many have ignored: the first duty of any government is to protect its people. Yet for years, many of our institutions have maintained a shameful blind spot when it comes to far-left violence. They dismissed riots as “mostly peaceful protests” while cities burned. They excused firebombs, assaults, and political intimidation so long as they were wrapped in the language of “justice” or “equity.”

This is not an abstract threat. Secretary Rubio pointed to victims across the West: a 72-year-old Greek grandmother burned alive, an arson attack that left tens of thousands of Berlin homes without power, leading to the death of an 83-year-old woman, and a young Frenchman beaten to death in Lyon. In recent days, authorities launched a terrorism investigation after 78-year-old former Conservative cabinet minister and Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe was brutally bludgeoned to death, suffering 21 blows from a hammer.

Here in America, we’ve witnessed sniper attacks on Border Patrol agents, execution-style murders, multiple assassination attempts against President Trump, and the heartbreaking killing of Charlie Kirk, a husband and father who was gunned down while speaking to students. These are not statistics. They are shattered families and lives cut short.

Too often, prominent Democrats have fueled this climate with reckless rhetoric. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) famously urged supporters to confront members of the Trump administration in public, telling crowds they should make them feel unwelcome “anywhere.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stood on the steps of the Supreme Court and warned Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh that they had “released the whirlwind” and would “pay the price.” These incendiary remarks are not just relegated to the past, but are ongoing calls to action from Democrat leadership.

Anti-law enforcement rhetoric has polluted even the highest levels of Democrat leadership, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) just this past week referring to ICE as “Donald Trump’s violent mass deportation machine,” and in April stating that “We are in an era of maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.” That is not the language of civil disagreement. When national leaders normalize rhetoric that casts political opponents as enemies, they do not calm tensions — they inflame them.

Just this past Monday, Andrew Arrabaca, “a man described as an ‘anti-government extremist’ set off an ‘incendiary device’ to set a fire outside a Manhattan federal building that houses an immigration court.” Arrabaca proudly said he was OK with hurting or killing people and was found with anti-ICE literature.

Today, that hostility has become institutionalized through efforts like “Project 2029,” a sweeping progressive agenda that proposes dramatically expanding executive authority and bypassing Congress to advance its objectives. At the same time, in addition to smears of “fascism,” leading Democrats have repeatedly described conservatives as an “existential threat to democracy.” When political opponents are portrayed as enemies of the republic, it should surprise no one that unstable individuals feel justified in resorting to violence.

This pattern extends far beyond the United States. Slogans such as “Punch a Nazi” and “by any means necessary” have become cultural rallying cries. Mainstream conservatives, churchgoers, parents at school board meetings, and anyone who dissents from progressive orthodoxy are routinely portrayed as extremists. Major media outlets, academia, Hollywood, and influential advocacy organizations reinforce this narrative every day. When people are repeatedly told their neighbors are evil, some eventually decide violence is justified.

These extremists cannot build; they can only destroy. They target power grids, pipelines, schools, police officers, and public institutions because they seek to undermine the very foundations of a free society. They despise what America represents because it stands for opportunity, liberty, and individual responsibility.

Enough is enough.

I stand with President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and every nation willing to confront political violence wherever it originates. We must dismantle violent transnational extremist networks, Antifa, anarchists, and their foreign enablers through stronger intelligence sharing, aggressive prosecution of criminal acts, defunding violent organizations, and securing our borders.

The civilized world is watching. Our children are watching. We have a duty to defend the values that built this country and ensure future generations inherit a nation where families can live in safety and freedom. The old double standard is dead. May God give us the courage and the fortitude to meet that responsibility.

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Congressman Mike Rulli represents Ohio’s 6th Congressional District.

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Leftist Violence Proves Politics’ Deadly Double Standard