Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans believe violence can solve political division in America? According to a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, this alarming number highlights the rise of political violence in the United States in recent years. In 2018, a radical leftist shot Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader, at a Republican Congressional baseball practice. Later, the infamous January 6th attack at the United States Capitol occurred, which had at least seven deaths connected to the event, according to a bipartisan Senate report. Further, an attack on Paul Pelosi, Representative Nancy Pelosi’s husband, also occurred in which a right-wing terrorist with a hammer was ready to “detain and injure” Pelosi. Recently, America witnessed an assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump.
One would think these scenarios would unite Americans regardless of their political beliefs. This has not been the case. Bad actors from both the left and the right are weaponizing the recent assassination attempt to push their ideals and to craft verbal attacks. From the left, conspiracy theories claim the assassination attempt was staged to help Trump win the 2024 election. According to a report from NewsGuard, the word “staged” was tweeted 300,000 times on Saturday and Sunday after the attack, which was a 4,000% increase compared to the prior weekend. The Washington Post utilized the title “BlueAnon” to describe conspiracists tweeting this, comparing them to the right-wing conspiracy theory group Qanon. Two days later during a concert, Kyle Gass of the band “Tenacious D” made a controversial remark, saying, “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
On the right, some prominent figures have made inflammatory statements. Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert suggested President Joe Biden’s rhetoric incited the attack. Georgia Representative Mike Collins even claimed on social media that Biden “sent the orders.” Most notably, Republican Vice-Presidential nominee J.D. Vance blamed Biden for the incident. He tweeted, “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
More history is being made this summer which could incite further violence. Current Vice President Kamala Harris is the assumptive Democrat nominee after Biden’s dropout from the race. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Congress alongside protests within and outside of Congress are expected. Further, the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after a bipartisan flaming by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress for her lack of answers on the massive security failures that led to the attempted assassination on Trump. There are many questions by both the left and right about the security failures and baffling decisions made by the Secret Service and holding them accountable. These examples show that the 2024 election environment is heating up, and we will continue to see more violence in the coming months.
There is political violence coming from both the left and the right, and it has made America more divided than ever. But throughout all of this, one thing is certain: as Americans, we must unite against the threat of political violence, advocate for peaceful discourse and stand together in upholding the values that define our nation. Only by rejecting violence can we hope to maintain the integrity of our political system and our society. I call for all SLU students to be the 4 in 5 and not the 1 in 5.