The right never misses an opportunity to divide the American people.
In this clip from Tarabuster with Tara Devlin on the Political Voices Network, I break down how, in the immediate aftermath of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, Republicans rushed to blame Democrats and the media for “inflammatory rhetoric.”
Instead of “lowering the temperature,” Trump’s entire maladministration fanned out across the media to turn yet another episode of American gun violence into an excuse to attack political rivals and push their kiss‑up/kick‑down agenda — including demands for taxpayers to shell out $400 million for a ballroom nobody asked for.
They’re busy blaming Democrats for “inflammatory rhetoric” while they’re the ones pouring gasoline on our politics, unable to get through a sentence without violating the very calls for civility they demand from everyone else. As usual, with Republicans, civility is a one‑way street.
Take White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, for example. Just before the shooting, she boasted that there would be “shots fired” (from Trump’s mouth, I suppose) as he went after the press.
Instead of taking even a moment of self‑reflection after a gunman literally opened fire, Leavitt pivoted to scolding Democrats about “rhetoric,” parroting years of right‑wing talking points about a supposed “left‑wing cult of hatred.”
In the very same breath, she uses the GOP’s juvenile pejorative “Democrat Party” — a deliberate epithet Republicans have employed for decades to demean and troll their opponents.
Far from being innocent bystanders. Republicans are the instigators of inflammatory rhetoric.
From Trump’s constant dehumanizing, fascistic calls to punish and even execute Democrats, to party leaders who mock political violence and brand opponents as enemies of America, the pattern is crystal clear: like authoritarians throughout history, they claim the victim mantle while simultaneously being the perpetrators.
If Republicans were genuinely concerned about “lowering the temperature,” they could start with the simplest, basic, bare minimum of respect — and call the Democratic Party by its actual name.
he truth out and save the “Grand Experiment” from the right wing forces currently destroying it.
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