Republicans are seeking to capitalize on Trumpās assassination attempt ā using it to demand everyone stop talking about his threats to democracy
AsĀ Donald Trump recovers from anĀ assassination attemptĀ and Republicans head toĀ MilwaukeeĀ for his coronation this week, the GOP elite has rallied around a new messaging strategy: emotionally blackmailing Democratic politicians, journalists, Hollywood celebs, and numerous other Trump critics into shutting up about the former presidentāsĀ openly authoritarianĀ vows and his extreme policyĀ agenda.
Since the deadly shooting at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday, prominent conservativesĀ have beenĀ working to blameĀ the incident on Trumpās enemies for labeling him a āfascistā and for fanning heated ārhetoricā that, in their telling, caused the would-be assassin to shoot at the former and perhaps future American president. āWhen the message goes out constantly that the election of Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy and that the Republic would end, it heats up the environment,ā House SpeakerĀ Mike JohnsonĀ (R-La.)Ā saidSunday, adding: āItās simply not true. Everyone needs to turn the rhetoric down.ā
This is the best summary I could come up with:
As Donald Trump recovers from an assassination attempt and Republicans head to Milwaukee for his coronation this week, the GOP elite has rallied around a new messaging strategy: emotionally blackmailing Democratic politicians, journalists, Hollywood celebs, and numerous other Trump critics into shutting up about the former presidentās openly authoritarian vows and his extreme policy agenda.
āWhen the message goes out constantly that the election of Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy and that the Republic would end, it heats up the environment,ā House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)
Top Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday he had been āworried about this for a very, very long time,ā adding: āYou know, if he wins, democracy is not going to end.
Such plans were hatched hours before it became public that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was a registered Republican; his motive has continued to elude law enforcement and even his own neighbors.
Trump and his closest allies are pledging to punish President Joe Biden and other top Democrats and jail his political opponents; unleash the National Guard and active-duty troops on Democratic-controlled cities whenever he wishes; end the Justice Departmentās independence so he can use it to crush his foes, shut down his criminal cases, and erase any hope of accountability for his alleged crimes; retaliate against media outlets that cover him negatively; deport pro-Palestine protesters; oversee an unprecedented crackdown on immigrants, potentially erecting a vast network of camps on U.S. soil; further institutionalize his anti-democratic lies and conspiracy theories that led directly to the Jan. 6 attack; and even invade and bomb Mexico if he feels like it.
Trump is calling now for āpeaceā and āunity,ā but he has a lengthy track record of downplaying or excusing the harm done to the victims of pro-Trump violence ā to the point that late last year he was onstage mocking House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosiās husband after he was brutally attacked by a Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist wielding a hammer.
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