Trump orders flags lowered for Charlie Kirk but after Trump supporter killed Dems in Minn, he refused to even call Governor

Trump then stokes hate versus Dems

In June, after a MAGA terrorist--who had attended Trump rallies and voted for Trump--hunted and killed a Democratic official and her spouse in Minnesota, Trump didn’t make a public video condemning the attack nor praising the Democrats. In fact, he even refused to call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz telling reporters when asked, “I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out,” adding, “The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess.” Instead, Trump’s response in the first 24 hours consisted of someone posting for him on social media a perfunctory denunciation of the attack writing in part, “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”

But when Trump’s MAGA ally Charlie Kirk was murdered, Trump immediately jumped into action. He praised Kirk on social media calling him the, "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk” and then declared flags would fly at half-staff. Soon thereafter, he released a video further praising Kirk. And then he used that video to demonize Democrats in what can only be seen as an effort to stoke the flames of political violence.

All of this reminds us that Trump –who in July declared he “hated” Democrats—views Democrats as the enemy. We never had a President who has made it clear that people who disagree him politically are disposable human beings—but that is who Trump is and that is how he views us.

To be clear, Trump praising his friend Kirk is not the issue. Rather, the alarmingly dangerous concern is that Trump used the death of Kirk to peddle hate versus Democrats while gaslighting Americans about MAGA’s long history of political violence. This is not a surprise given it comes right from the aspiring tyrant playbook of making a martyr for the cause while blaming your political enemies for the person’s death. I’ve written about this before and how Trump’s praise of his Jan. 6 terrorists and demonization of the police who defended our Capitol mimics exactly past fascist leaders.

That is what we saw with Trump’s video Wednesday night where--after praising Kirk--he turned to political violence. He began with a sentiment that actually was the right tone for the moment, saying, “It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree day after day.”

A patriotic American president would have followed that line of thought. But that’s not Trump. Like other aspiring dictators, he saw an opportunity to demonize his political enemies. That is when Trump continued to state, “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now.”

Of course, in reality Kirk’s killer has not been caught at the time of his video—and we have no idea the motive. As a reminder, the 20 year-old who attempted to shoot Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024 was a registered Republican but who had not expressed strong political views. Instead, he was a troubled young man. But Trump by design is not waiting for facts. His top priority is creating the media narrative which he believes helps him grab more power.

From there, Trump then gave a master class on gaslighting by listing political violence but leaving out all the instances it came from Trump’s own supporters—often with his direct involvement. Trump added, “From the attack on my life in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, which killed a husband and father, to the attacks on ICE agents, to the vicious murder of a healthcare executive in the streets of New York, to the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and three others, radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.”

First off, the shooter in Butler was a registered Republican—as the convicted felon Trump is aware. Second, Trump left out his own Jan. 6 terrorist attack where he directed the angry and armed crowd to march to the Capitol that day to “Stop the Steal.” From there, Trump refused for three hours to put out a statement calling on his supporter to stop the attack.

After the horrific Jan. 6 attack that left more than 140 police officers injured—many with career ending injuries—he praised his MAGA attackers as “patriots.” Finally, he rewarded the people involved in this domestic terrorist attack with a pardon once he took office because these are members of the MAGA militia and he may need them again to wage future attacks.

Trump also left out the violence at his past campaign rallies that he literally urged his supporters to engage in. One of the most infamous came when Trump told his supporters, "If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, OK? Just knock the hell ... I promise you I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise."

And not a peep from Trump about the MAGA supporting conspiracy lover who targeted Nancy Pelosi because he believed she wanted to "steal votes from Donald Trump." That attacker broke into the Pelosi home and then viciously beat her 82 year old husband Paul with a hammer, causing a skull fracture that required plates and screws to be surgically implanted. That is the same attack Trump mocked to the MAGA faithful for big laughs in 2023--but he of course didn’t note that Wednesday when talking political violence.

Despicably, there was also not even a mention by Trump of the attack just three months ago in Minnesota where a Trump supporter who espoused right wing anti-abortion views stalked and then killed State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark. Another Democratic lawmaker and his wife were also wounded by the gunman. And this Trump loving killer-- per prosecutors--had also visited the streets of two other Democratic lawmakers and he had a list of other Democratic politicians in his S.U.V.

But those lives don’t matter because they were Democrats killed by Trump’s rabid supporters. That is the dangerous message that Trump is sending by design. And his supporters hear it loud and clear.

Trump’s reaction to the Kirk shooting ensures that political violence will continue. And the reason it will is because as with all things related to Trump, he views it as being helpful to his agenda.

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