Republicans have managed to issue vague tweets of support for Paul Pelosi after a man inspired by their rhetoric and the January 6th election denial sold not only by former President Trump but also elected Republicans viciously attacked the Speaker’s husband with a hammer, sending him to surgery.
CNN reported on the attacker’s obsession with Republican claims that the election was stolen and denial of the January 6th attack:
Last year, David DePape posted links on his Facebook page to multiple videos produced by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell falsely alleging that the 2020 election was stolen. Other posts included transphobic images and linked to websites claiming Covid-19 vaccines were deadly. “The death rates being promoted are what ever ‘THEY’ want to be promoted as the death rate,” one post read.
DePape also posted links to YouTube videos with titles like “Democrat FARCE Commission to Investigate January 6th Capitol Riot COLLAPSES in Congress!!!” and “Global Elites Plan To Take Control Of YOUR Money! (Revealed)”
Republicans have managed to squeeze out the very most backbone they’ve managed since Trump by saying meekly: ‘hey, violence isn’t okay.’
Becky and I are thankful to hear that Mr. Pelosi is expected to recover from this horrible attack, and we’re praying for his entire family.
Violence is unacceptable.
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) October 28, 2022
That is not actually how a leader goes about calming down their base.
A real leader would say: “The election was not stolen, you are not being targeted, January 6th was a deadly terrorist attack incited by Donald Trump which resulted in police officers dying and having to leave the force, your vote does count, Covid vaccines are not killing people, trans people aren’t grooming your kids, the truth about slavery isn’t going to hurt you, and Democrats are not going to destroy your way of life.”
But if they said all of that, how would they get out the vote? And so they pander.
This isn’t meant as a hot take gotcha. It’s actually long past due.
This country is still reeling from the impact of the Trump domestic terrorist attack of January 6th, largely because Republicans decided to not only defend it but lionize the attackers as heroes. They do this because they are cowards who put their own power over the good of the country.
Yes, it’s been a long road getting here – littered with violent rhetoric, threats, actual political terrorism, and so many conspiracy theories.
“… at least 104 political ads from Republican candidates running for U.S. Congress, governor, or attorney general this year that display and feature firearms or weapons. Many even include implicit or explicit threats against political opponents or the government,” the Center for American Progress found in July.
Some of these ads show the Republican shooting at Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Joe Biden, and more.
There are too many examples to list, but here’s just a few:
In a February 2022 ad that aired during the Super Bowl, Arizona senate candidate Jim Lamon is in a showdown with President Joe Biden, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Lamon shoots at the Democrats, disarming them and forcing them to flee the town.
In an August 2021 ad, Mike Collins uses a firearm to blow up “Nancy Pelosi’s plan for America.” He then states: “Conservatives have gotten steamrolled thanks to spineless politicians for far too long, and it’s time to fight back. And if you think I’m just going to fight the Democrats, think again. Because in the swamp, it’s RINO season too,” before shooting at a cardboard rhino.
In a recent July 2022 ad, Jerone Davison uses an AR-15 to scare off “a dozen angry Democrats in klan hoods.”
A March 2022 ad shows Josh Clark holding an firearm, explaining he’s giving away an AR-15 every week until the election to ensure that “Georgians are equipped and ready to protect their family and to fight against tyranny and evil when necessary … against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The ad then shows Clark shooting an AR-15 at targets, with his children and others also taking turns firing the weapon.
In case it’s not clear that Republicans are continuing to be cowards even as Paul Pelosi is in surgery for an attack inspired by their own rhetoric and by rhetoric of their party leaders, this is the same party running these ads below – these violent, ugly, disgusting ads.
So it’s become hard to argue that violence to the level of political terrorism is not a large part of the Republican Party brand.
Conservative David Frum called it out exactly:
Coming soon: “It’s outrageous that anybody would hold me responsible for this heinous act just because I starred in a campaign ad firing hundreds of rounds from a machine gun at a photo of Nancy Pelosi.”
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
He listed a sampling of these ads:
Former governor of Missouri. pic.twitter.com/ae2qmMWagD
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Member US House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/hi3YLaLEYc
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Speakers, 2020 national political convention pic.twitter.com/vkXrtVHzWA
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Member, US House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/5GB6DiUx3Y
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Governor of a state pic.twitter.com/NtZfL20j3e
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Governor of a state pic.twitter.com/srNChDgA7Y
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Member, US House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/REHseHEIgF
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Defeated candidate US Senate pic.twitter.com/7RPzJfZ1Mf
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 28, 2022
Gosh, who would have thought being in bed with the gun manufacturing lobby and fetishizing weapons of mass destruction to be caressed lovingly on your Christmas card would ever lead to violence.
Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said of Pelosi, “I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it.”
Oh. That’s totally normal.
This is what it takes to “win” with the incel crowd – threaten to hurt a woman because you allegedly have different policy ideas.
It’s not as if Pelosi’s party incited and participated in a coup against their own country and tried to assassinate Kevin, as Kevin’s party did to the United States and to Speaker Pelosi — BEFORE he felt compelled to share his fantasy about hitting the Speaker. So it’s a wonder what would even justify such a thought.
Still, we don’t hear such things from Pelosi herself or from Republican former Vice President Pence, who was also an assassination target by Trump’s terrorists.
Republicans are set to take control of at least part of Congress and put some of the most dangerous Republicans into even larger positions of power.
That’s not a party that’s sorry or even acknowledging the role they’ve played in both the January 6th terrorist attack or this horrific attack on Paul Pelosi, which was meant for the Speaker herself, in yet another January 6th repeat.
The media won’t hold them accountable, so we have to do it ourselves. The best way to hold Republicans accountable is at the ballot box. Vote early, take others to vote on election day, work election protection, and talk to your community about what’s at stake.
We can’t allow Republicans to continue this reign of terror.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
