The Trump rally shooting reveals a bipartisan consensus about what constitutes political violence — and who should wield it.
By Natasha Lennard, The Intercept
A bipartisan sampling of the world’s greatest perpetrators and enablers of political violence has rushed to condemn political violence following the shooting attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday.
Politicians swiftly coalesced around the language of “political violence,” rather than terrorism, to describe the assassination attempt, carried out by Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot dead at the Western Pennsylvania rally. Taken together, the outpourings of condemnations betray a clear agreement on what constitutes political violence, and in whose hands the monopoly on violence should remain.
“The idea that there’s political violence … in America like this, is just unheard of, it’s just not appropriate,” said President Joe Biden, the backer of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestine, with a death toll that researchers believe could reach 186,000 Palestinians. Biden’s narrower point was correct, though: Deadly attacks on the American ruling class are vanishingly rare these days. Political violence that is not “like this” — the political violence of organized abandonment, poverty, militarized borders, police brutality, incarceration, and deportation — is commonplace.
“Everybody must condemn it,” Biden said of the assassination attempt.
Recent Posts
Two Thirds of People Arrested by ICE in Minnesota Surge Had No Criminal Records, New Data Reveals
Take Action Now The White House had said all the thousands of people arrested were “dangerous criminal” immigrants.By Meghnad Bose and Luke…
BREAKING: Israel Approves Extreme Death Penalty Law Targeting Only Palestinians
Take Action Now Monday’s vote in the Knesset to impose a one-sided death penalty bill on Palestinians will further cement Israel’s system of…
‘Erasing The Lines’: How Settler Outposts Are Seizing New Regions of the West Bank
Take Action Now After decades consolidating their control over Area C, Israeli settlers are expanding into Areas B and A — nominally under…
Cory Booker Says Democrats Have ‘Failed This Moment’ And Calls For New Leaders
Take Action Now Senator’s comments come amid growing divisions within the party, which he says has ‘too small of a coalition’By José Olivares, The…