President Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called out Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) over recent remarks that he said could easily “be construed as inciting violence.”
Miller took questions outside the White House on Monday, where he was asked about Pritzker’s call to action for Democrats and his assertion that Republicans should not be allowed a moment of peace.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Stephen Miller (<a href="https://twitter.com/StephenM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StephenM</a>) on Gov. JB Pritzker: &quot;His comments, if nothing else, could be construed as inciting violence.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9LZ642LS4H">pic.twitter.com/9LZ642LS4H</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1916965070375944537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Pritzker, speaking at McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner in New Hampshire on Sunday, said, “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption, but I have now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and every microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.&#8221;
Miller’s response was simple: “What I would say is that his comments, if nothing else, could be construed as inciting violence.”
The longtime Trump adviser went on to note that the president had already survived two assassination attempts and law enforcement had foiled numerous other credible threats on his life, and the comments made by Pritzker expressed the kind of sentiment that could potentially drive more of the same.
Miller also pointed out that left-wing attacks resulting in property damage and destruction — like the recent spate of attacks on Tesla dealerships and vehicles — were only a short leap away from physical attacks against people.
“Once you tolerate, and once you allow for attacks on property, you’re just a step away from throwing Molotov cocktails into people’s homes,” he said.
Miller briefly mentioned how the normalizing of political violence — driven by rhetoric like Pritzker’s — led to scenarios like former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz saying she felt “joy” when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was executed on a New York street.
Miller then addressed the fact that Pritzker, along with several other Democrat governors, was attempting to “wage war” against the federal government on issues like illegal immigration in which the federal government had supremacy to make, implement, and enforce policy.
”I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

Stephen Miller Speaks To Media At White House

‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It’: Stephen Miller Blasts JB Pritzker For ‘Inciting Violence’

Democrats

Donald Trump

JB Pritzker

Political Violence

Politics

Republicans

The man suspected of setting the Pennsylvania governor&#8217;s mansion on fire over the weekend planned on attacking Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, according to police.
Police <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25896483-balmer-criminal-complaint-and-affidavit-mdj-klein/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documents</a> reveal that 38-year-old Cody Balmer admitted that he harbored &#8220;hatred towards&#8221; Shapiro and planned on beating him with a hammer if he encountered the governor as he allegedly threw two Molotov cocktails into Shapiro&#8217;s residence. Balmer has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism, and multiple counts of aggravated assault.
Shapiro and his family were inside the home during the attack, which did significant damage. They were awoken by Pennsylvania State Police around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday and were escorted out of the residence.
Balmer turned himself in to the police shortly after he called an &#8220;ex-paramour&#8221; to confess to her and ask her to alert law enforcement, according to a police affidavit. The same affidavit says that Balmer admitted to the attack and told police that he knew people could be harmed because of his actions.
“He advised on the date in question he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken Bottles he found at his residence,&#8221; the police affidavit says. &#8220;Balmer advised he walked for approximately one hour from his residence to the Governor’s Residence with the intention of throwing his homemade Molotov cocktails into the residence.” 
He reportedly told police that he climbed the perimeter fence of the governor&#8217;s mansion, broke two windows with a hammer, and then threw the Molotov cocktails into the home. 
&#8220;Balmer was asked specifically what he would have done if Governor Shapiro found him inside of his residence, to which he advised he would have beaten him with his hammer,&#8221; the affidavit says.
When police searched Balmer&#8217;s residence, they found clothing that matched the outfit worn by the individual seen on surveillance video and a small sledgehammer.
Balmer&#8217;s mother <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/josh-shapiro-governors-residence-harrisburg-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CBS News that he was &#8220;mentally ill and he went off his medication&#8221; when the attack occurred.
Speaking on Sunday, Shapiro said that police knew that the attack was targeted but didn&#8217;t specifically know why.
&#8220;We don’t know the person’s specific motive yet, but we do know a few truths,&#8221; he said. &#8220;First, this type of violence is not okay. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society, and I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another, it is not okay, and it has to stop.”

MixCollage-14-Apr-2025-08-47-AM-4730

Arson Suspect Planned On Beating Josh Shapiro With Hammer: Police

Arson

Crime

Josh Shapiro

Molotov cocktail

Pennsylvania

The Revolutionary Left is creeping into the mainstream.
The shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, has unleashed a wave of evil from members of the Left. Thompson wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t even an advocate of death the way abortionists or euthanasia advocates are. (And murder of an abortionist or euthanasia advocate would be unjustifiable morally in a democratic system.) His great sin is that he was the head of a company that exists within a mixed private-public healthcare framework, and that he did his job.
But for the Left, if you hate the system, you are morally justified in murdering anyone who acts within the system. That means that if, like one Bernie Sanders follower, you believe that private healthcare “kills Americans,” you can murder Congressmen. It means that if you don’t like that health insurers often deny coverage for certain pre-existing conditions or non-covered doctors or medication, you can murder the CEO of a health insurance company.
This is revolutionary leftist evil.
It’s evil for a couple reasons.
First, violence is not justified in a democracy, where your say is part of the process. Revolution to overthrow tyranny is justified — but the tyranny must be real, and the violence must be the last resort. Neither is true in this case. If you do perceive America to be a tyranny and violence to be the proper response, that is a call for unending violence until the system itself is changed. It’s a call for revolution.
Second, violence against members of private industry isn’t even a protest of public policy. It’s a protest against the very system of free markets. Thompson was not responsible for America’s healthcare system any more than the head of CVS is responsible for America’s tariff system. Directing hatred against Thompson is not about shaping public policy. It’s about trying to threaten anyone who engages in free markets at all. This person could have just as easily shot a doctor who decided not to perform a surgery, or a bank worker who denied a loan application.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2099-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
This was the philosophy of the Red Army Faction in Germany in the 1970s, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang. They weren’t seeking a better world. They were seeking to tear down the world of capitalism on behalf of Marxist evil. They routinely quoted Herbert Marcuse and Antonio Gramsci; they called for revolution. Ulrike Meinhof, a Left-wing radical journalist, led the way, famously stating, “Protest is when I say this does not please me. Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more.”
That philosophy led the Baader-Meinhof Gang to engage in routine assassination of everyone from industrialists like Hanns Martin Schleyer to Dresdner Bank head Jurgen Ponto to American servicemen in Germany. These people can also become tools of enemy regimes, as Baader-Meinhof was. Baader-Meinhof worked with the Stasi and other Soviet agents to foment chaos, and coordinated with Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestine Liberation Organization.
The origins of Baader-Meinhof came from the 1968 student protests in Germany. They were Marxist in orientation, influenced by radical race riots in the United States, and allied with radicals all over the globe; Meinhof wrote an essay defending the Munich Massacre of Israeli Olympians by Palestinian terrorists. Stefan Aust, who literally wrote the book on the Baader-Meinhof Gang, pointed out:
<blockquote>The Baader–Meinhof Gang drew a measure of support that violent leftists in the United States, like the Weather Underground, never enjoyed. A poll at the time showed that a quarter of West Germans under forty felt sympathy for the gang and one-tenth said they would hide a gang member from the police. Prominent intellectuals spoke up for the gang&#8217;s righteousness [as] Germany even into the 1970s was still a guilt-ridden society. When the gang started robbing banks, newscasts compared its members to Bonnie and Clyde. (Andreas) Baader, a charismatic action man indulged in the imagery, telling people that his favourite movies were Bonnie and Clyde, which had recently come out, and The Battle of Algiers. The pop poster of Che Guevara hung on his wall, [while] he paid a designer to make a Red Army Faction logo, a drawing of a machine gun against a red star.</blockquote>
What do we make of the journalists and academics who proclaim soft support for the murder of Brian Thompson? That we are on the verge of something terrible. After all, this follows hard on the Black Lives Matters riots, which were indulged and even celebrated by many on the Left; the Hamas takeover of college campuses, again indulged and celebrated by Left-wing elite; and now, the not-so-quiet applause for the assassination of a private healthcare CEO.
The toxic brew of radicalism and violence that characterized the 1970s in Germany and the United States is bubbling again. And why not? Many of those who engaged in precisely that violence are now well-respected American academics: Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn found high positions in academia after spending years planting bombs with the Weather Underground.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a></h3>
Certainly a desperate Left, spurred to action by constant talk of the “fascistic” takeover of Donald Trump, can be counted on to increase their support for violence. Two assassination attempts against Trump in the last six months are merely an indicator of just how deeply this rot is spreading.
This must be stopped. It can only be stopped by a widespread rejection on all sides of the aisle for this type of violence. The shooter in this case should be arrested and given the death penalty. Seedbeds for such Marxist-Leninist violence on college campuses should be defunded. Those like Taylor Lorenz should be rejected from polite society.
The Brian Thompson shooting is a bleeding edge indicator of where the country could be going. All it takes is someone with organizational capacity on the Left to launch America into a new era of domestic terrorism, with the tacit “moral” support of much of the journalistic establishment.

United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Fatally Shot In Midtown Manhattan

The Evil Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder

Health Care

Health Insurance

Leftists

Murder

New York City

Revolution

Terrorism

Violence

NewsNation host Chris Cuomo immediately contradicted his Democrat guest during a recent interview, calling him out for claiming that former President Donald Trump was the &#8220;only one perpetuating violence&#8221; when it came to political rhetoric.
Cuomo spoke with MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen about the fact that there have now been two assassination attempts on the former president — the most recent foiled by U.S. Secret Service agents just this past Sunday — and the Trump campaign has called on Democrats, in particular, to tone down the rhetoric that could potentially incite violent actions.
Cuomo began the conversation by asking why Democrats had gotten so mad at him for suggesting they should take steps to lower the temperature.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/briantylercohen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@briantylercohen</a>⁩: “The reason Democrats get so up in arms about this idea that Democrats have to disavow violence, is because the only reason this violence is here is because of [Trump]. He’s the only one perpetuating violence.”
⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCuomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisCuomo</a>⁩: “Yeah…no he isn’t” <a href="https://t.co/WnCREoIh82">pic.twitter.com/WnCREoIh82</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1836216522424865206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;So, why did you guys get in such high dudgeon about what I said that was so obvious?&#8221; Cuomo asked. &#8220;Which is, you guys should be as loud about going after Trump as you are about the danger of hate speech.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
&#8220;Well, I think they&#8217;re one and the same,&#8221; Cohen replied. &#8220;I think the reason that Democrats get so up in arms about this whole idea that Democrats have to disavow violence, is because the only reason this violence is here is expressly because of [Trump]. He’s the only one perpetuating this violence.&#8221;
Cuomo was having none of it: &#8220;Yeah &#8230; no, he isn&#8217;t.&#8221;
In the wake of the second assassination attempt — and the predictable legacy media efforts to blame him for the tone of political rhetoric in the United States — Trump&#8217;s campaign published a list of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-team-brings-receipts-highlights-50-times-dems-media-used-extreme-rhetoric-about-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 50 times</a> that Democrats or left-wing pundits had used violent rhetoric either against him directly or in reference to him and his supporters.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-kamalas-rhetoric-causing-me-to-be-shot-at-would-be-assassin-acted-on-it">Trump: Kamala&#8217;s Rhetoric &#8216;Causing Me To Be Shot At&#8217;, Would-Be Assassin &#8216;Acted On It&#8217;</a>

12th Annual Endometriosis Foundation Of America’s Blossom Ball

‘No He Isn’t’: Chris Cuomo Sticks It To Democrat Insisting Only Trump Perpetuates Violence

'No He Isn't': Chris Cuomo Sticks It To Democrat Insisting Only Trump Perpetuates Violence

assassination attempt

Chris Cuomo

Democrat

Media

An elderly man in Hancock, Michigan, is in critical condition after what police are calling a “politically motivated” attack on Sunday.
The man, who has not been identified, was putting up a yard sign supporting President Donald Trump around 5:45 p.m., when a suspect driving a Honda ATV drove onto the man’s yard and ran him over with the vehicle, the Hancock Police Department said in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=447121814974766&amp;set=pb.100090308541414.-2207520000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a press release</a>. The driver reportedly began to pull out the yard signs, and when the victim tried to put them back in the ground, the driver ran him over.
The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, including a brain bleed, and is reportedly still in critical condition.
The 22-year-old suspect, whose name has not been released to the media, was found dead Tuesday in a home in Quincy Township with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Police received a message on Monday from an individual at the home who said they wanted to confess to a crime involving an ATV driver within the last 24 hours, and asked for authorities to &#8220;send someone to pick me up.&#8221;
When law enforcement arrived at the home, they found the man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Hancock Police Department said in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=447190011634613&amp;set=pb.100090308541414.-2207520000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a press release</a> released Tuesday afternoon. Police obtained a search warrant for the home and recovered electronic devices that will be searched by forensic specialists as well as the ATV used in the crime and the clothing the suspect had been wearing.
The police department said additional details will be released as the investigation continues.
This was the third incident police believe to be politically motivated that occurred on Sunday alone. The first two involved vehicles that were vandalized, with the police department saying the suspect “appeared to target both Trump and Law Enforcement supporters.” It is unclear what about the vehicles indicated the drivers were either Trump or law enforcement supporters.
“Around 4:45 p.m., we had reports of vandalism to two vehicles where the tire valves were broken off and another one, they had smashed all the windows out and tried to do the same [act]&#8230;with the vehicle tires,” Sleeman told WLUC.
The ATV attack occurred less than 10 days after 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at former President Donald Trump&#8217;s rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. During that attack, the president was shot in the ear, attendee Corey Comperatore was killed while shielding his family from bullets, and two other Trump supporters were seriously injured.
One of the injured supporters, James Copenhaver, released <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shooting-victim-speaks-out-after-surviving-trump-assassination-attempt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> expressing condolences to Comperatore&#8217;s family and wishing the other injured supporter, David Dutch, a speedy recovery.
“First and foremost, me and my family continue to extend the most heartfelt condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore,” Copenhaver said.
“We also continue to offer our thoughts and prayers for the full and speedy recovery of Mr. David Dutch and for the full recovery of President Donald Trump,” he continued. “I am thankful for all of my amazing caregivers who have done a wonderful job saving my life and helping me on my road to recovery. Recovery will be slow, but steady.”
This piece has been updated to include additional information.

ATV Driver

Elderly Trump Supporter In Critical Condition After ‘Politically Motivated’ Attack, Police Say

Elderly Trump Supporter In Critical Condition After 'Politically Motivated Attack,' Police Say

Michigan

U.S.

In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, radio host Charlemagne tha God suggested that Trump was “solely responsible for creating this environment of political violence.”
On Saturday, a shooter attempted to kill Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and missed murdering him by inches because Trump had turned his head a moment before the shot rang out and struck his right ear.
“Remember when Trump posted pictures of (President Joe) Biden looking like he’s bound and hogtied on his social media?” the radio host asked. “Donald Trump, in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, told his followers to fight, and that led to an attempted coup of this country, and some of his followers did bring guns and ammunition to D.C. for that purpose. They did storm the Capitol; they were chanting to hang Mike Pence because he wouldn’t alter the election results. That happened. And it happened because of Donald Trump.”
“I’m not even going to go down the rabbit hole of how many times Donald Trump has incited political violence or co-signed political violence or suggested political violence,” he continued. “I’ll give you a couple that come to mind. You remember when the now governor of Montana — I believe it was Montana &#8212; he was running for Congress and he body-slammed a reporter and got charged with assault, and Donald Trump said, ‘He is my type?’ Is that not encouraging violence? Remember when Donald Trump suggested that, you know, Second Amendment advocates assassinate Hillary Clinton?”
“So (House Speaker) Mike Johnson and (vice-presidential nominee) JD Vance, please don’t act like Donald Trump is not solely responsible for creating this environment of political violence that he’s not even safe from,” he concluded.
<div style="width: 1920px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-765303-1" width="1920" height="1080" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/2024-07-15-Grabien-Breitbart-The_Breakfast_Club-Lenard_McKelvey_28Charlamagne_Tha_God29-2501502.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/2024-07-15-Grabien-Breitbart-The_Breakfast_Club-Lenard_McKelvey_28Charlamagne_Tha_God29-2501502.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/2024-07-15-Grabien-Breitbart-The_Breakfast_Club-Lenard_McKelvey_28Charlamagne_Tha_God29-2501502.mp4</a></video></div>
On June 8, President Joe Biden, in a widely <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/07/08/congress/defiant-biden-tells-donors-were-done-with-the-debate-00166834">reported</a> remark, told donors, “I have one job and that&#8217;s to beat Donald Trump. &#8230; So, we&#8217;re done talking about the debate, it&#8217;s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
As far back as the Ronald Reagan presidency, Democrats used extreme language to attack Reagan, likening him to Hitler in the same manner as today’s Democrats have used the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slGr9UEv5hw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hitlerian</a> <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/05/21/biden-trump-unified-reich-nazi-germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comparison</a> to attack Trump.
As the American Enterprise Institute <a href="https://www.aei.org/articles/the-liberal-misappropriation-of-a-conservative-president/">recalled</a>, “Democratic Rep. William Clay of Missouri charged that Reagan was ‘trying to replace the Bill of Rights with fascist precepts lifted verbatim from Mein Kampf.’ The Los Angeles Times cartoonist Paul Conrad drew a panel depicting Reagan plotting a fascist putsch in a darkened Munich beer hall.”

The 2024 Republican National Convention

Charlemagne Tha God Suggests Trump Is ‘Solely Responsible’ For Environment Of Political Violence

assassination

Charlemagne Tha God

Less than 24 hours after a failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump — which left one bystander dead and three others, including Trump, injured — The Atlantic&#8217;s David Frum blamed the violence on the former president and his supporters.
&#8220;The Gunman and the Would-Be Dictator,&#8221; blared the headline, and on the off-chance anyone missed the intended tone of the piece, a subhead followed: &#8220;Violence stalks the president who has rejoiced in violence to others.&#8221;
Frum&#8217;s premise was that Trump was a fascist and because &#8220;fascism feasts on violence,&#8221; the former president was simply getting a taste of that which he had fostered.
Addressing the attack on Trump, which took place on Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, as &#8220;a horror and an outrage,&#8221; Frum went on to invoke history to quickly forget the name of the man who would commit such a despicable act. But first he blamed the victim, writing,&#8221;Now the bloodshed that Trump has done so much to incite against others has touched him as well.&#8221;
&#8220;Trump and his supporters envision a new place for violence as their defining political message in the 2024 election,&#8221; the political commentator continued, returning to his original premise. &#8220;Fascist movements are secular religions. Like all religions, they offer martyrs as their proof of truth. The Mussolini movement in Italy built imposing monuments to its fallen comrades. The Trump movement now improves on that: The leader himself will be the martyr in chief, his own blood the basis for his bid for power and vengeance.&#8221;
Frum ventured further in the same vein, ultimately concluding that &#8220;the gunman and Trump, at their opposite ends of a bullet’s trajectory, are nonetheless joined together as common enemies of law and democracy.&#8221;
Critics were not impressed with Frum&#8217;s take — and even less impressed with his timing — as they responded via X.
&#8220;David Frum needs help. In every way,&#8221; Joe Concha commented.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
David Frum needs help. In every way. <a href="https://t.co/iwLuEfvth0">https://t.co/iwLuEfvth0</a>
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1812596083748729057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;They are still trying to get Trump killed,&#8221; The Blaze&#8217;s Auron McIntyre added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
They are still trying to get Trump killed <a href="https://t.co/xMZNwsYrp2">https://t.co/xMZNwsYrp2</a>
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) <a href="https://twitter.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1812539711602196811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Former Bush 43 political appointees with Trump derangement are some of the most pathetic, delusional, and self-righteous people in politics. Blaming Trump and his family for his near assassination? @davidfrum definitely wins the trophy with this one. Truly a douche bag,&#8221; Mike Davis posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Former Bush 43 political appointees with Trump derangement are some of the most pathetic, delusional, and self-righteous people in politics.
Blaming Trump and his family for his near assassination?<a href="https://twitter.com/davidfrum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@davidfrum</a> definitely wins the trophy with this one.
Truly a douche bag. <a href="https://t.co/f8kCb1h6v6">pic.twitter.com/f8kCb1h6v6</a>
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) <a href="https://twitter.com/mrddmia/status/1812582242532921812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Megan Basham added, &#8220;You literally just published an essay saying Trump had it coming less than 24 hours after an assassin missed taking Trump&#8217;s life by millimeters. People are disgusted by what you wrote in @TheAtlantic because it was disgusting. You are not the victim here. Sit down.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You literally just published an essay saying Trump had it coming less than 24 hours after an assassin missed taking Trump&#8217;s life by millimeters. People are disgusted by what you wrote in <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAtlantic</a> because it was disgusting. You are not the victim here. Sit down. <a href="https://t.co/FfwcOd6p3q">https://t.co/FfwcOd6p3q</a>
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) <a href="https://twitter.com/megbasham/status/1812640802037702821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Politicon 2018 – Day 2

‘The Gunman And The Would-Be Dictator’: The Atlantic Says Trump ‘Had It Coming’ Less Than 24 Hours After Assassination Attempt

'The Gunman And The Would-Be Dictator': The Atlantic Says Trump 'Had It Coming' Less Than 24 Hours After Assassination Attempt

David Frum

Gun Violence

The Atlantic

Thomas Matthew Crooks

Authorities sentenced a North Dakota man to 5 years in state prison on Friday after he fatally hit an 18-year-old with his car — following his expression of concern about the teenager&#8217;s alleged connection to a &#8220;Republican extremist&#8221; group.
Shannon Brandt of Glenfield, North Dakota, pled guilty to manslaughter in May after fatally running over Cayler Ellingson with his 2003 Ford Explorer on September 18, 2022, in McHenry, North Dakota.
A state district court judge reportedly gave Brandt the sentencing with nearly a year of credit for time served under house arrest, including three years&#8217; supervised probation and a yearlong suspension of his driver&#8217;s license. The maximum penalty for such charges is 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-hit-run-argument-death-sentence-2a81fc37edab4ed083b3eab26dc199f6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>.
Ellingson&#8217;s mother, Sheri, reportedly requested the judge hand down the maximum sentence for Brandt.
&#8220;Shannon, you took a piece of our family that&#8217;s not replaceable,&#8221; she said, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/shannon-brandt-sentenced-prison-death-north-dakota-teen-cayler-ellingson?intcmp=tw_fnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>. &#8220;When you chose to take Cayler&#8217;s life and happiness, you took ours too. You have caused our family endless pain, heartache, sleepless nights.
&#8220;Our days, months, and years will never be the same because of your selfishness,&#8221; Ellingson added.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/north-dakota-man-pleads-guilty-to-manslaughter-after-hitting-teen-he-feared-was-linked-to-republican-extremist-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case</a> quickly became controversial after an affidavit from police suggested that Brandt had run down Ellingson following a political disagreement, a claim investigators backtracked later after little evidence supported the assertion.
Foster County State Attorney Kara Brinster said Brandt had been drinking and arguing with Ellingson before the incident.
Brandt claimed in a 911 call that he had felt threatened by Ellingson over the teen&#8217;s alleged connection to a &#8220;Republican extremist group&#8221; and was urging others to attack Brandt after a political argument, according to the call.
&#8220;He was threatening me with something to have to do with — something with an extremist Republican group. And then he made a phone call. He made a phone call saying, &#8216;I thought he was Republican (background noise) or something. You&#8217;re going have to come here and handle him.&#8217; I got scared to death. I didn&#8217;t know what to do,&#8221; a transcript of Brandt&#8217;s 911 call says.
Brandt said that he accidentally hit the teen while trying to get away from him during a crowded event in McHenry.
An autopsy report said that Ellingson&#8217;s fatal &#8220;injuries weren&#8217;t caused from being struck by Shannon Brandt&#8217;s vehicle and were caused by being run over&#8221; once he was on the ground.
Authorities initially charged Brandt with criminal vehicular homicide, but Forster County State&#8217;s Attorney Kara Brinster later upgraded those charges to murder, according to Fox News. The charges were later reduced to manslaughter, to which Brandt pleaded guilty on May 18.
Before the judge sentenced Brandt, he addressed the court and apologized to everyone impacted by his actions.
&#8220;I&#8217;m here to take responsibility for the role I played in this tragedy,&#8221; Brandt said. &#8220;I&#8217;m very sorry to the Ellingson family, my family, and anybody else that has been affected by my actions. I have always enjoyed seeing the Ellingsons and would never have intentionally caused harm to any of them.&#8221;
&#8220;I am truly devastated by the impact this has had on the entire community,&#8221; Brandt added.
Defense attorney Mark Friese told The Associated Press that Brandt &#8220;is relieved to have finally been able to offer his apology and to allow the Ellingson family to move forward. It&#8217;s been a very difficult year for everyone involved.&#8221;
&#8220;It got exacerbated by false information making it into the media and people using this tragedy to advance their political platforms,&#8221; Friese said.
Brandt reportedly was diagnosed with autism, which Foster County Judge Bradley Cruff mentioned during the sentencing.
&#8220;You didn&#8217;t intentionally run him over,&#8221; Cruff said. &#8220;I acknowledge that. I understand what the experts in this case are saying about how your mind works. And you didn&#8217;t intentionally kill Cayler.&#8221;
&#8220;But he did die,&#8221; Cruff added. &#8220;And that&#8217;s a result of your alcohol consumption. You recklessly pushed Cayler to the ground with your SUV, you recklessly ran him over, and you recklessly killed him.&#8221;
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Shannon Brandt

North Dakota Man Gets Five Years For Running Over And Killing Teen With His Car Over Concerns He Was A ‘Republican Extremist’

North Dakota

Top military leaders from Gabon, a central <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">African</a> nation, declared a coup on Wednesday shortly after the country re-elected its president in what&#8217;s been called a fraudulent election.
Military officers <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/africa/gabon-military-officers-say-power-seized-election-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> the coup on state television Wednesday just hours after the country declared President Ali Bongo Ondimba – whose family has ruled Gabon for over 50 years – the winner of the disputed election. Bongo was detained on Wednesday and placed under house arrest. The unrest follows a string of similar actions taken in other African countries and would mark the eighth coup in the region since 2020 if successful, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-us-is-deeply-concerned-by-situation-gabon-2023-08-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Reuters.
“Today the country is undergoing a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis,” the military officers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/30/gabon-coup-military-takeover-gabonese-election-disputed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a video message announcing the attempted coup. “On behalf of the Gabonese people and guarantor of the protection of institutions, CTRI [the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions] has decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place,” an officer <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/africa/gabon-military-officers-say-power-seized-election-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
During the address, the mutinous officers said that Bongo had been placed under house arrest and that the results of the election had been “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gabon-coup-attempt-military-officers-say-election-cancelled-west-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">canceled</a>.” In an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/africa/gabon-military-officers-say-power-seized-election-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">address</a> of his own, Bongo said that he was being detained in his residence while his wife and son were taken to separate locations.
The coup leaders also arrested Bongo&#8217;s inner circle, alleging “high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds (and) international financial embezzlement,&#8221; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gabon-mutiny-elections-power-a61d03963f75ae93ba85a4ba7eec3c71" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Associated Press.
“Nothing is happening, I don’t know what’s going on,” Bongo said, calling on his supporters to “make noise.” Despite the call to action from Bongo, the demonstrations appeared to be in support of the military coup, with crowds celebrating in the streets and thanking the army, the AP reports.
Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema, head of the Republican Guard unit which is tasked with protecting the president, was named the leader of the military junta and transitional government; Oligui is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gabon-mutiny-elections-power-a61d03963f75ae93ba85a4ba7eec3c71?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> the cousin of Bongo. Following the address, footage shows the military leader being paraded through the streets while fellow soldiers cheered and civilians shouted “freedom,” according to The New York Times.
On Wednesday, Bongo was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/world/africa/gabon-coup-election.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">named</a> the winner of the country’s presidential election, which took place on Saturday, garnering 65% of the vote, according to The New York Times. The election was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/gabon-president-ali-bongo-wins-third-term-after-disputed-election-2023-08-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely viewed</a> as fraudulent within Gabon due to voting delays, a lack of international election observers, foreign broadcasts being suspended, and the government cutting internet service for days following the vote.
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Shortly after Bongo was declared the winner, gunfire could be heard in the capital of Libreville, followed by the television address announcing the coup by 12 officers, according to the Times. The group behind the coup refers to themselves as the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, and they <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gabon-military-officers-announce-seized-power-rcna102493" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> to “dissolve all institutions of the republic” during their address.
“There was discontent in Gabon,” Oligui <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/world/africa/gabon-coup-election.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Le Monde, a French newspaper. “So the army decided to turn the page and do something.”
In 1960, the country <a href="https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa-region/gabon-1960-present/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gained independence</a> from France. Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, became president in 1967, and Ali Bongo was elected after the elder Bongo’s death in 2009. During his two terms, he has been accused of corruption, and survived a previous coup attempt in 2019.
Even though Gabon is an oil-rich country, roughly one-third of the country’s population lives in poverty, according to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13376333" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the BBC</a>.
This past December, Bongo visited Washington where he met with President Joe Biden at the White House, Today News Africa <a href="https://todaynewsafrica.com/white-house-says-u-s-monitoring-developments-in-gabon-amid-coup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Following the news of the coup, White House national security spokesman John Kirby called the events “deeply concerning,” and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-us-is-deeply-concerned-by-situation-gabon-2023-08-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the U.S. will “remain a supporter of the people in the region, a supporter of the people of Gabon and of their demand for democratic governance.&#8221;
Last month, military leaders in Niger <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-officials-missionaries-evacuated-from-niger-as-military-seizes-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized power</a> and installed General Abdourahmane Tchiani as president.

Gabonese soldiers announce they have seized power

Military Leaders Declare Coup In Central African Nation, Vow To ‘Dissolve All Institutions Of The Republic’

Africa

Democracy

Global Politics

World

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-civil-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Civil War</a> reenactor and self-identified member of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/antifa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Antifa</a> pleaded guilty Tuesday to planting a bomb at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia</a> battlefield and to mailing threatening letters.
Gerald Leonard Drake, of Winchester, Virginia, pleaded guilty to placing a pipe bomb at the Cedar Creek battlefield in Middletown, Virginia, back in 2017, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/civil-war-reenactor-admits-planting-bomb-cedar-creek-battlefield" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia. According to investigators, Drake had placed a pipe bomb composed of metal nuts, a mercury switch, a battery, ball bearings, black and red wires, and powder at the battlefield during a reenactment.
“This defendant sought to intimidate and harm innocent people, and further, he tried to sow discontent by falsely claiming that the attempted bombing was politically motivated,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said. “I am deeply grateful to the first responders for their work to quickly neutralize the bomb, as well as the special agents of the FBI and the federal prosecutors who – for years – tirelessly worked this case to identify Mr. Drake and bring him to justice.”
The DOJ said that Drake had claimed to be a member of Antifa in letters sent to newspapers and several individuals. In years past, Drake had participated in reenactments at Cedar Creek and had been a member of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation (CCBF).
The CCBF <a href="https://ccbf.us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is a nonprofit</a> organization &#8220;dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, and protection of lands, artifacts, and writings” linked to the battle. They offer a history museum and manage about 350 acres of land.
One of the letters addressed to the &#8220;Cedar Creek Battlefield people” said that reenacting the battle “clearly celebrates the war to keep African-Americans in chains,” and that the Charlottesville riot would be like “a Sunday picnic” compared to havoc purportedly threatened from Antifa. The letters were emblazoned with the black and red flag logo associated with Antifia, according to court documents. 
A pipe bomb was discovered during the recognition of the 153rd anniversary of the battle in October 2017, which was organized by the CCBF. Although the bomb did not go off, it did result in the cancellation of the rest of the planned events. According to the DOJ, Drake said that the purpose of the bombs was to “instill fear and cause harm to those attending the reenactment.”
The battle of Cedar Creek <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/cedar-creek" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took place</a> on October 19, 1864, and saw Union forces under Major General Phil Sheridan face off against Confederate Major General Jubal Early. Union forces had 5,764 casualties and Confederate forces had 3,060 casualties. The battle involved over 50,000 men combined. Despite the casualty count, the battle is considered a Union victory as Sheridan was able to lead a successful counterattack that forced Early’s troops to retreat after Confederate forces surprised three Union corps at the beginning of the battle.
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 According to the American Battlefield Trust, the battle helped to give President Abraham Lincoln some momentum in the lead-up to the 1864 election when he was facing stiff competition from George McClellan, a former Union general. It also <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/battle-of-cedar-creek.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">effectively</a> ended Confederate resistance to the Union in the Shenandoah Valley, a place where the Confederates had wracked up several victories under Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson earlier in the war.
Drake could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

US Civil War Confederate Cavalry Ride Away in Shenandoah Valley

Civil War Enthusiast Pleads Guilty To Planting Bomb During Battle Reenactment

American Civil War

Antifa

Virginia

The following is a transcript excerpt from Dr. Jordan Peterson’s conversation with Rav Arora on the necessary distinction between political and religious beliefs. You can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast/s4-e82-the-spiritual-void-and-the-west-with-rav-arora" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen to</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/s4-e82-the-spiritual-void-and-the-west-with-rav-arora">watch</a> the full podcast on DailyWire+.
Podcast time: 7:29
It’s psychologically dangerous to confuse political explanations and ideologies with religious and spiritual ideologies and movements. You don’t want the political to carry the weight of the spiritual, I don’t think. I think it’s dangerous. I also believe that ideologies essentially function as crippled religions. So they have the motive force of religious belief and the attractiveness of religious belief, which I think is actually a necessity for human beings because we’re religious by nature, but they don’t have the symbolic complexity that a religion has — a well-established religion with its mystical elements and its dogmatic elements. 
You say, too, that religious belief is on the decline. Certainly, organized church attendance in some countries is radically declining. Christianity is growing at an unbelievable rate in China, for example, so it’s not necessarily a global phenomenon. With regards to abandoning ideology, there’s danger in confusing your political beliefs and your religious beliefs, not noting that there’s a difference between them. One of the associated dangers there, I think, especially in totalitarian utopian systems, is the proclivity to raise the leader — whoever that might be — to the status of a demigod. That certainly happened in the Soviet Union and in Mao’s China. Maybe it will happen again in modern China, who knows, as the Chinese premier centralizes his authority, which he appears to be doing. You know, you’re supposed to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and render unto God that which is God’s. That’s the fundamental ethos that underlies the idea of separation of church and state, and I think it’s a good psychological truth as well. [&#8230;]
The problem with ideologies, as far as I’m concerned, is that they’re not useful as practical, problem-solving guides. Most of the problems that beset us are very, very complex. They need to be decomposed in a sophisticated way into their constituent elements until they’re differentiated enough so that partial solutions for some of the problem can arise as a consequence of practical endeavors. That requires the willingness to do that kind of detailed thinking, and it requires the development of specialized expertise. Ideology can blind you to your own stupidity, and that’s actually dangerous. 
So we could take the case of poverty, for example. I think we could all agree that poverty, as such, is undesirable. That’s the starting point and the motivation. Then you might say, “Well, what is poverty?” And you could conclude that it’s lack of money. From that you could conclude, because there’s an unequal distribution of resources, that if the rich would only loosen their grip on wealth, then there wouldn’t be poverty. Then it’s not much of a leap from that to the rich are by definition causing poverty and morally culpable for it. Even though there is some truth to that, some of the time in some situations, that doesn’t mean that it’s always true and it’s the only reason all the time. There’s an additional danger, which is that you now have a solution. So, you’re smart. You’re not the problem, so that you’re moral. You have a convenient enemy, so your dark unexamined motives have a valid target, which you’ve already defined as immoral. And that means you’re more likely to give reign to violent impulses, let’s say, that you should otherwise keep in control. That’s all very dangerous. It’s not sophisticated. It’s emotionally and motivationally dangerous. It interferes with proper problem solving. It confuses you as to the limits and depth of your own knowledge. You end up thinking you actually understand how the world works, and you don’t understand it at all. You don’t even understand the problems. 
Think about poverty. What do you mean by poverty? Do you mean alcoholism? Drug abuse? Mental illness? Physical illness? Lack of education? Lack of intelligence? Lack of conscientiousness? Antisocial behavior? Relative poverty? Absolute poverty? Do you mean a corrosive worldview? Do you mean lack of ability to plan for the future? Do you mean absolute privation of material goods? That’s all poverty, and that’s just the beginning of a decomposition. All of those problems are markedly different, and it isn’t obvious that there’s one solution that will address it. It’s not obvious at all. In fact, it seems highly improbable that one solution is going to address all of them. 
Then there’s the complex problem that you have a theory that identifies a problem and explains its existence and offers a solution. So now you’re going to assume that if you could only put that solution in place, that you would do that competently and it would produce the result that’s intended. That’s wrong. It’s unlikely that you would do it competently because it’s very, very difficult to solve a problem. Even if you did, it’s also unlikely that your intervention would produce only the positive result that you intend and nothing else. Well, that’s a lot of problems. I suppose it’s the enticement to pride that ideology also produces. ‘Well, now I have an explanation for how the economic system works.’ No, you don’t. You don’t know the first thing about it. You’re like a monkey looking at a military helicopter. You don’t have a clue and you don’t even know it. 
[The following section appeared a few minutes later in the discussion.]
I outline this to some degree in “Beyond Order” and also in my first book, “Maps of Meaning.” The world is characterized by ignorance and malevolence and danger — always, always, always. It’s an existential truth. You might ask yourself, “Well, if that’s the case, how might you best conceptualize that?” Now, you can find malevolence and ignorance at the level of the individual. And so we would say that’s the malevolence and ignorance that characterizes you and other individuals. It’s a viciously powerful and terrifying force. And then there’s the malevolence and ignorance that characterizes social institutions. That’s the negative aspect of the Great Father in my terminology, and that’s derived to some degree from Jungian theory, especially through a man named Erich Neumann, who is a brilliant student of Jung. You’re always a victim of the evil tyrant. The reason for that is that human beings have a lengthy period of intense socialization. That fosters and develops your individuality in some ways but crushes and maims and distorts and destroys it in all sorts of other ways. It’s a universal tendency to feel oppressed by the evil tyrant. And it’s so powerful symbolically — it’s such a powerful symbolic tendency — that people don’t even notice that it’s a symbolic tendency.
I’ve been taken to task, for example, for insisting that we use gendered metaphors to portray the two fundamental attributes of experienced reality: chaos and order. Order is patriarchal. That’s the symbol. Well, people accept that at face value and don’t even notice that they’re trapped in a symbolic world. The very feminists who will criticize me for pointing out that femininity is associated with chaos, symbolically, accept the idea that masculinity is the proper representation for social order without question and are irritated beyond belief if you point out that things are not so simple. They’re caught in a religious myth, and they don’t even realize it. If you accept that the patriarchy is masculine, then what’s feminine? Well, the opposite of patriarchy and order, and that’s creative chaos. That’s not my theory. That’s the Daoist theory of being, for example. It’s the ancient Greek chaos and cosmos theory of being. It’s the ideational structure that underlies the first chapters of Genesis, where a patriarchal God makes order out of Tohu wa-bohu, which is the primordial chaos. 
Young people find themselves motivated to stand up against the evil tyrant, and of course they should because it’s at that point when you’re differentiating yourself that you want to take a look at the group that you’re going to pledge allegiance to and note its shortcomings. You don’t want to be blind while doing that and fail to notice that the social world is full of pathology and danger, malevolence and ignorance, let’s say. But the natural world — which you will automatically tend to romanticize if you only believe that patriarchy is evil — is doing everything it can to kill you every second. The only reason you’re not dead is because the evil tyrant has a benevolent aspect that protects you in ways that are so deep and profound that you don’t begin to understand them. I mean, you are shielded, as am I, by a nuclear umbrella, for example, none of which you have to attend to. The other loss, of course, is that, yes, there’s evil in the patriarchy. That’s always how things are, and sometimes it’s much worse than other times — not right now, by the way, not by historical standards. But it also blinds you to the fact that you’re culpable too, deeply. You have more ignorance and malevolence in your soul than you’ll ever get on top of in your entire life. The knowledge of that stops you from being carelessly judgmental. Carelessly. You should be judgmental. You have to differentiate and discriminate between things. But you shouldn’t do it carelessly, and you certainly shouldn’t assume that all the fault lies outside, which is the point that you made. And so ideology is extremely dangerous if it convinces young people that the moral stance is that all malevolence and ignorance lies outside of them.
To hear the rest of the discussion, continue by listening or watching this episode on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/browse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire+</a>.
<a href="https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1998 he served as assistant and then associate professor of psychology at Harvard. He is the international bestselling author of Maps of Meaning, 12 Rules For Life, and Beyond Order. You can now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen</a> to or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/jordan-peterson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">watch</a> his popular lectures on DailyWire+.

GREGORYWOODMAN_DW_ISRAEL2022027

Why It’s Psychologically Dangerous To Confuse Political Ideologies With Religious Movements

Why It's Psychologically Dangerous To Confuse Political Ideologies With Religious Movements

Jordan Peterson

Podcast

Protests

Readers Pass

Religion

Social Issues

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> is so unpopular that candidates in the 2022 midterm elections don&#8217;t want him anywhere near them. So former President Barack Obama had to come out of retirement to try to help floundering Democrats.
Last weekend he swooped into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan">Michigan</a> to endorse Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a campaign rally in Detroit. There, he chastised politicians (Republicans, not Democrats) for creating what he called a &#8220;dangerous climate&#8221; with their &#8220;demonizing&#8221; rhetoric.
&#8220;When we don&#8217;t just disagree with people but we start demonizing them, making wild crazy allegations about them, that creates a dangerous climate,&#8221; Obama <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLrg38Z13oY">said</a> as the crowd applauded.
&#8220;And if elected officials don&#8217;t do more to explicitly reject that kind of rhetoric, if they tacitly support it, or encourage their supporters to stand outside voting places armed with guns, dressed in tactical gear, more people can get hurt,&#8221; he said.
As if on cue, someone in the crowd shouted out and Obama saw the opportunity to deliver a lecture.
&#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t do that at a workplace!&#8221; The Chosen One shouted. &#8220;You wouldn&#8217;t just interrupt people in the middle of a conversation! It&#8217;s not how we do things &#8230; and this is part of the point I want to make!&#8221;
But Obama&#8217;s claims of incendiary-free rhetoric runs entirely counter to what Biden says nearly every day about 74 million Americans who supported former President Donald Trump in the last election.
“You need to vote to literally save democracy again,” Biden said at an August rally in Rockville, Maryland. “Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans have made their choice to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division, but we’ve chosen a different path — forward.”
In September, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-man-killed-a-teenager-for-being-a-republican-extremist-police-say-is-the-president-still-responsible-for-political-violence">said</a>: “MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.”
“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic,” he later added. “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of the law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election.”
And just Tuesday, Biden derided Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling him &#8220;Trump incarnate.&#8221;
In a rare campaign speech, this one for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, Biden likened Republicans to racists and anti-Semites.
&#8220;When the folks who are of the ilk that the guy Charlie is running against began to rear their heads en masse, I changed my mind,&#8221; Biden said about his decision to drop into Florida in a last-ditch effort to save Crist, who, according to a Real Clear Politics (RCP) <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/governor/fl/florida_governor_desantis_vs_crist-7324.html">average</a> of all polls, is trailing DeSantis by 12.3 points.
&#8220;You know, remember what happened down in Virginia, when those folks came out of the fields, carrying torches — and carrying not only torches, but also swastikas? Not a joke. I mean, it’s hard to remember and believe it — as well as making sure that they had white supremacists with them,&#8221; Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/11/01/remarks-by-president-biden-at-reception-for-gubernatorial-candidate-charlie-crist/">said</a>.
&#8220;And seeing the same antisemitic chanting, the same antisemitic bile that was chanted in Germany in the ‘30s. And my predecessor was asked, &#8216;What do you think?” And he said, “There are very good people on both sides.&#8217; And the Republican Party basically remained silent,&#8221; Biden said, without elaborating on the rest of what Trump said.
&#8220;This is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a different group of people,&#8221; the president said.
Like his former boss, Biden also speaks out of both sides of his mouth &#8212; demonizing Republicans while condemning divisive political rhetoric.
In an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-joe-biden-60-minutes-interview-transcript-2022-09-18/">interview</a> on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” host Scott Pelley said to Biden: “Concerning politics, Mr. President, you were elected to the Senate in 1972. You were 29 years old. And in those days, it seemed that the parties worked together to move the country forward. And I think many Americans feel that that no longer happens, and, in fact, may be impossible now.”
Putting on his most avuncular mask, Biden said: “Well, I don’t think it’s impossible. But it– it– it’s changed. What we do today, think about it, it’s all personal attacks. It’s about motive.”
“It’s not about, ‘I disagree with you on the — on the subject matter. And secondly, I think that — it’s — I think it’s fair to say that we’ve not had a president like the last president, who has made all of it so personal.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

01, 2022 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. With a week until the midterm elections, both Gov. Steve Sisolak and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) hold narrow leads over their Republican opponents. (Photo by

Obama Rails About ‘Dangerous’ Political Climate While Biden Demonizes Republicans

Obama Rails About 'Dangerous' Political Climate While Biden Demonizes Republicans

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