The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has been universally condemned by political opponents, including liberal politicians and pundits. However, these same individuals have, either explicitly or implicitly, called for his death before. While the FBI named Thomas Matthew Crooks as the shooter who killed one spectator at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and injured two others, Trump narrowly avoided harm himself.
US President Joe Biden decried the attempt on Trump’s life, asserting that “there’s no place for this kind of violence in America.” However, since Trump’s election win in 2016, he has faced a steady stream of threats from members of Biden’s party and their allies in the media.
Hollywood celebrities reacted with outrage to Trump’s shock defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016. Pop icon Madonna spoke of wanting to “blow up the White House,” actor Peter Fonda called for the president’s youngest son, Barron, to be “put in a cage with pedophiles,” and comedienne Kathy Griffin generated headlines when she posed for a photoshoot holding a mockup of Trump’s bloodied and severed head.
In addition to these celebrities, other politicians have made threatening statements about Trump. For example, Representative Dan Goldman declared that his fellow New Yorker cannot be allowed to “see public office again,” while Michigan State Representative Cynthia Johnson warned Trump and his supporters to “walk lightly” or else her “soldiers” would “make them pay.
While some lawmakers have apologized for their statements, others continue to use rhetoric that suggests violence towards the former president. For example, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that the upcoming presidential election is “not a normal election,” and that Trump “must be stopped. He cannot be president.
British journalist David Aaronovitch even went as far as suggesting that President Biden should have Trump murdered due to his perceived threat to America’s security, though he later deleted the tweet and claimed it was “clearly satirical.” Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson proposed legislation that would strip former presidents convicted of felonies of their Secret Service protection, a measure explicitly targeted at Trump.
Despite these threats and calls for violence, President Biden’s response to the shooting has been one of unequivocal condemnation. In a post on social media less than a month earlier, however, Biden’s team described Trump as “a genuine threat to this nation.” While never explicitly wishing physical harm on his opponent, at least one would-be assassin has used similar words to justify his plans to kill Trump.