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Monday Edition: Political Violence
Plus: The White House press corps' herd mentality.
Bubba
15 Jul
1. Our Political Violence Problem
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally this weekend was preceded by a steady rise in threats of violence against lawmakers. (CNN)
Chart: CNN
A 2023 CNN analysis of a decade’s worth of federally prosecuted threats:
41% of prosecuted threats in the last decade were politically motivated.
Politically motivated threats increased 178% during Trump's presidency.
Threats related to political issues like abortion and police brutality rose over 300% during Trump’s term.
Threats against GOP lawmakers rose 169% under Trump.
More: In August, the Associated Press reported that Capitol Police investigations into threats against Congress members more than doubled in the previous four years.
A 2021 survey by the National League of Cities found 87% of local officials reported increases in harassment, threats and attacks against themselves.
23% of Americans now believe "patriots may have to resort to violence to save our country," up from 15% in 2021, according to a PRRI/Brookings Institution survey.
Zoom in: In recent years, a number of high-profile threats and acts of violence against political officials have made headlines.
After Colorado and Maine blocked Trump from appearing on the ballot in December, multiple state capitol buildings received bomb threats, the FBI investigated threats against Colorado Supreme Court justices and some public officials were swatted.
Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer in October 2022 by a home intruder who broke in and demanded to see his wife, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In June 2022, a man was arrested near Brett Kavanaugh's home, carrying weapons and burglary tools, with the intent to harm the Supreme Court Justice.
In October 2020, the FBI arrested several men linked to a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Perspective: According to the ongoing America’s Political Pulse survey, Americans vastly overestimate how much the other side supports violence.
Both Democrats and Republicans believe almost 40% of the other party backs murdering their political opponents, but the real figure is just 1-2%.
Bubba’s Two Cents
So I think two things are true here.
1) It’s a very small percentage of the population that’s actually willing to resort to violence against political officials.
2) All it takes is one person to go off and try to harm a lawmaker. That’s why it’d be wise to make sure the way we talk about politics doesn’t go off the rails.
In recent years, the media has focused on Republicans’ and Donald Trump's extreme rhetoric, but often lost in the story has been Democrats' and the press’ role in jacking up the political temperature.
President Biden last month:
The cover for the June edition of The New Republic:
The New Republic
Political commentator Keith Olbermann in March:
Then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking to a pro-choice crowd in 2020:
Inside the walls of this court, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments, as you know, for the first major abortion right cases since Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch came to the bench. … I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.
Actress Kathy Griffin in 2017:
X/@kathygriffin
Actor Johnny Depp in 2017: “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?”
Actor Robert DeNiro in 2016: “I’d like to punch Donald Trump in the face.”
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson in 2015: “[The GOP donor class] is still going to have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump.”
The national media’s coverage of extreme political rhetoric has tended to point the finger at Republicans.
NBC News’ First Read newsletter in 2022:
Our politics have descended into a deeper, darker place. And that descent is coming exclusively from one side of the aisle. … And before you say Democrats and the left do the same, there are no Democratic candidates with campaign videos of them storming into homes to go “hunting…”
Perspective: A number of Republicans, including ones that aren’t big fans of Trump, have offered some nuanced takes on the Trump rally shooting.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who has sharply criticized Trump in the past:
The Democrats have to stop their grossly irresponsible talk about Trump being an existential threat to democracy. He is not.
National Review columnist Noah Rothman:
Americans on the political right have spent the better part of a decade being lectured to about their side’s penchant for political violence while, in their justified perception, the violence was being disproportionately meted out against them by their adversaries. They have every reason to resent that dynamic.
Bubba’s Two Cents
Trump and the GOP’s rhetoric has been extreme at times. But hopefully this weekend’s events wake people up to the fact that no side’s hands are clean when it comes to sparking the political tensions that are roiling the country.
3. The White House Press Herd
On the latest episode of the Ink Stained Wretches podcast, host and Washington Free Beacon editor Eliana Johnson dishes out some behind-the-scenes info on the White House press corps. (Ink Stained Wretches)
Setting the stage: Johnson says reporters covering President Biden lack the same "desire to ferret out the truth" as they did with Donald Trump.
And that’s valuable context in reflecting on whether the media failed to accurately cover Biden’s mental decline.
One big factor: The herd mentality of the White House press corps may have made reporters reluctant to really go after the Biden administration on such a sensitive topic.
Johnson, citing conversations with two reporters “who have covered this White House”:
It's so time consuming. They all hang out together. And then these guys seek approval and depend to a certain extent on the White House for sourcing. And my understanding from talking to White House reporters is that the White House has named and shamed and gone after viciously on social media, mainstream reporters who have done negative coverage of the White House. And then, behind-the-scenes, crapped on those reporters to their colleagues and tried to weaponize their colleagues against them. Turn their colleagues against them.
Bubba’s Two Cents
Christine Rosen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who appeared as a guest on Ink Stained Wretches, made a good point about the role of the White House press corps when she said: “They're never supposed to take anything that people in power say at face value because people in power have motives that might not be the same, that might be harmful to the American people … And they knew how to do that job when Trump was in the White House.”
To me, this says something about the media’s bias problem — of course, politics is a factor. But it’s also just about conformity, and journalists being afraid to say things that might upset people on “their team.”
4. At Least TVs Are Cheaper
Professor Mark Perry regularly updates a “Chart of the Century,” which illustrates how the prices of various U.S. consumer goods and services have changed.
Here’s the latest version:
The most expensive increases since 2000:
Hospital services: +232.4%
College tuition and fees: +183.8%
College textbooks: +155.4%
Medical care services: +128.1%
Childcare: +127.8%
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