This is EXACTLY “Who You Are”*
Until You Cowards Collectively, Forcefully, and Publicly Condemn Trump’s Violent Rhetoric and Behavior
I am sickened by the full-throated, Trump supporting politicians here and across the country who lack the courage to forcefully condemn Trump’s crusade of violence. After some not-so-random act of political violence, they have the temerity to claim, “this is not who we are.”
Bullshit! This is exactly who you are.
Exhibit A is today’s headline in The Salt Lake Tribune: ‘It’s just not who we are’: Utah leaders condemn shooting at ‘No Kings’ protest. Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who sold his soul, “called the shooting ‘a deeply troubling act of violence and has no place in our public square.’” Governor Cox, this is who you are.
On Faux King Trump’s birthday, it was terribly sad — but no surprise — awakening to news of a shooter in police garb having assassinated Minnesota Democratic State Representative Melissa Hortman and murdered her husband Mark or, in the now infamous words of Brevard County, Florida MAGA Sheriff Wayne Ivey, rendered them “graveyard dead.”[i] Apparently the same gunman earlier attempted to assassinate Minnesota Democratic State Senator John A. Hoffman and shot his wife Yvette inside their home. The Senator was hit nine times and his wife eight. Governor Walz characterized the shootings as targeted political violence.
Investigators found a hit list of 70 people, all Democrats, in the shooter’s car, along with “No Kings” signs. The claim is the gunman wasn’t really a cop even though he was dressed as one. They’ve identified a suspect, who has deep Christian nationalist ties, and the manhunt is on.
As I was searching for an update on the shooting at the “No Kings” rally last night in Salt Lake where I live, I ran across an interview of retired Lieutenant General Russel Luke Honoré and Colonel Amy McGrath. They were addressing Trump’s politicization of the military after his flaccid birthday parade. Their condemnation was specific and palpable. General Honoré suggested Trump’s misuse of the military — his partisan and campaign style speech at Fort Bragg to vetted MAGA members of the military (a speech calculated to incite crazies to violence), his pretextual usurpation and federalizing of the National Guard and deployment of Marines in California, and the lackluster performative event in Washington D.C. — appears to be part of his effort to create his own “Republican Guard.”
Colonel McGrath focused some of her comments on Trump’s violent rhetoric and the “unquestionable surge of political violence in our country right now.” She said:
“It starts with language. First of all, Donald Trump sets the tone for the nation. Let’s be real about that. And language matters. Language matters, particularly from leaders, political leaders. So when you have the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem saying that everybody in Los Angeles is a criminal, that matters. When she says, hey we’re coming in to liberate the country from their corrupt elected officials, that matters. When the speaker of the House, THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, says that the California Governor, the governor of the largest state in our country, should be tarred and feathered, that matters.
“And all of that comes from Donald Trump.”
The Briefing with Jen Psaki (June 14, 2025, MSNBC).
Colonel McGrath is correct. Let’s not forget where this comes from.
Near the end of Trump’s first term, ABC News identified 54 cases of Trump-inspired violence. ‘No Blame?’ ABC News finds 54 cases invoking ‘Trump’ in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults (Mike Levine, May 30, 2020). Several involved mass shootings of people who are “poisoning the blood” of “true” Americans. Trump’s own defense secretary “saw an evolution in then-President Donald Trump after he wasn’t removed from office after being impeached [the first time], and that Trump wanted to use the military to shoot protesters demonstrating in the wake of George Floyd’s death.” Trump’s defense secretary ‘dumbfounded’ by suggestion to shoot protesters (Anderson Cooper, CNN). See also We analyzed 9 years of Trump political speeches, and his violent rhetoric has increased dramatically (Nikita Savin and Daniel Treisman, The Conversation, October 26, 2024).
You may recall that Trump chose to hold his first campaign rally in Waco, Texas, during the 30-year anniversary of the federal raid of the nearby Branch Davidian Compound. At the end of the 51-day siege, the compound exploded and burned to the ground, killing more than 70 Branch Davidians. See The Waco Tragedy, explained in Vox. “Waco fueled the rise of the militia movement in the 1990s and inspired the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995; it continues to influence contemporary militant thinking.” See Mike Giglio’s outstanding What it Means for Trump’s Campaign to Start in Waco in The Intercept.
Trump proclaimed, “In 2016, I declared, ‘I am your voice.’ Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” The Waco Tragedy.
His outreach was clear. “Trump has been signaling that this campaign will be different from his last two: more divisive and violent in its rhetoric, more revolutionary in its aims, and more openly intertwined with right-wing militancy and its apocalyptic mindset.” What it Means for Trump’s Campaign to Start in Waco. As he had earlier that month at CPAC, Trump ominously declared, “2024 is the final battle. It’s going to be the big one.” (Emphasis added.) The apocalyptic symbolism from Book of Revelation 19:11–21 wasn’t subtle (although I doubt he came up with that from personal Bible studies). Trump also vowed to “defeat the demonic forces.” Trump’s “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” was simply a continuation of that theme.
In March 2024, Trump shared a video on social media that included an image of President Biden bound and restrained in the back of a pickup truck.
After the secret service spotted the barrel of what turned out to be an AK-47 sticking out from some bushes in the general vicinity of Trump who, at the time, was golfing at Mar-a-Lago, he and his surrogates attributed the cause of the would-be assassinations to what they said was dangerous and divisive rhetoric from the left. Referring to Biden and Harris on Fox News, Trump said, “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
In an apparent provocation — or invitation to live in infamy — of any mentally unstable, right-wing gun nut who might be paying attention, Trump’s ardent supporter and largest campaign donor Elon Musk commented that “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” Likewise, during his continuing adventures in attempting to convince people not to believe their lying eyes and ears — gaslighting — Vance said:
“The big difference between conservatives and liberals is that no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months and two people have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. I’d say that’s pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and cut this crap out. Somebody’s gonna get hurt by it, and it’s gonna destroy this country.”
People who believed that nonsense were the ones easily fooled into parting with their money and, unfortunately, voting for Trump. Were it not so serious, it would be funny, albeit in a pathetic, pitiable, and sad sort of way.
Alex Shephard of The New Republic, explained this “simple and obvious truth”:
“No one in this country has done more to sow division, create chaos, and, yes, encourage violence over the past decade than Trump. It was only a matter of time before that boomeranged on him. . . . Criticisms of Trump that rightfully note that he is a threat to the future of American democracy are hardly incitement to violence. They are recognition of the fact that Trump has used and will continue to use any means at his disposal to gain and hold onto power.”
Trump Brought Chaos to American Politics. Now It’s Engulfing Him (Alex Shephard, The New Republic, September 17, 2024) .
More than a month before President Biden withdrew as the Democratic nominee for president and two weeks before the first attempt to assassinate Trump, Mother Jones National Affairs Editor Mark Follman wrote “[h]ow [Trump’s] latest migrants bashing, lies about the FBI, and other verbal attacks could lead to bloodshed”:
“Among Trump’s many targets over the years have been immigrants, journalists, judges, and law enforcement officials. Threats and violence have followed. Proving a direct connection is all but impossible — and that’s the point, the madness in the method, so to speak. But in various cases a connection also isn’t difficult to see: a mass shooter claiming to be motivated by a migrant ‘invasion,’ after Trump and his Fox News allies hyped such fears. A sharp rise in death threats against journalists, after Trump and his advisers blasted the media as the ‘enemy of the American people.’ A thwarted attack by a Trump supporter on an FBI field office, after Trump let loose over the Mar-a-Lago raid and after his ally Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona said, ‘We must destroy the FBI.’ . . .
“Trump’s targeting of the judicial system, particularly in response to the criminal cases against him, has caused a surge in threats against judges and prosecutors, according to data from the US Marshals Service and a recent Reuters investigation. During the hush-money case against Trump in New York, he blasted away on social media at the district attorney and the judge in the case; both faced increased threats against them and their families and employees.”
Trump is Inciting Political Violence as the Election Approaches (Mark Follman, Mother Jones, June 26, 2024).
Since the election and inauguration, things haven’t improved. Examples of his violent rhetoric include:
· Threatening prospective protesters at his birthday parade they will be met with “very heavy force”
· Calling opponents the “enemy from within,” claiming domestic critics are more dangerous than foreign adversaries
· Suggesting potential violence against opponents, such as Liz Cheney
· Promoting and using force against American citizens by deploying the U.S. military and National Guard against perceived “radical left lunatics”
· Describing migrant groups in dehumanizing terms — “animals” who “cut your throat”
· In yet another projection, accusing Democrats of being “evil” and “professional thieves” who steal elections and are trying to destroy the country.
If there’s a federal crime involved in the successful and attempted assassinations of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, expect TACO Trump — whose people issued a statement condemning the shootings — to have a sudden change of heart and pardon the pro-Trump gunman, assuming he survives the manhunt, or Trump’s Department of Justice will simply look away. On day one, he pardoned 1,600 of his supporters who stormed the Capitol, including those who were murderous.
Oh, and don’t forget Ceasar Sayoc. 16 Pipe Bombs Delivered To Trump’s Declared Enemies.
As for Rand Paul, Trump’s worst act of political violence, and what caused him to lose “a lot of respect” for Trump, is Trump’s disinvitation of the senator to the annual White House picnic. Rand Paul attacks ‘immaturity’ of White House after rescinded picnic invitation, says he’s lost a ‘lot of respect’ for Trump (Manu Rajku, Alison Main, and Aileen Graef, CNN, June 11, 2025).
R.VanWagoner https://medium.com/@richardvanwagoner publishes. https://richardvanwagoner.medium.com/subscribe
*My brother the talented fiction writer and novelist, Robert Hodgson Van Wagoner, deserves considerable credit for offering substantive and technical suggestions to https://medium.com/@richardvanwagoner Rob’s second novel is a beautifully written suspense drama that takes place in Utah, Wyoming, and Norway. This novel, The Contortionists, which Rob himself narrates for the audio version, is a psychological page-turner about a missing child in a predominantly Mormon community. I have read the novel twice and listened to the audio version twice. It is a literary masterpiece.
[i] A Florida sheriff warned protesters ahead of nationwide rallies who misbehave, “We will kill you dead. We will be notifying your family where to collect your remains, because we will kill you graveyard dead.” Florida Sheriff Issues Warning (Madeline Sherratt, Independent, June 13, 2025).
See ‘We will kill you’: Florida sheriff warns protesters not to attack deputies (Ana Goñi-Lessan and Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, June 13, 2025):
“The remarks, including the threat of death against violent protesters, drew criticism from the ACLU of Florida, which warned the states’ sheriffs that they would have to pay millions of dollars in damages if they use excessive force against protesters.
“‘Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey’s violent and provocative threat to ‘kill’ protesters exercising their First Amendment rights is extremely un-American, and unbecoming for an elected leader sworn to protect the public,’ the state’s ACLU chapter said in a post to social media.”