I hate to subject everyone to these videos, but I have to admit they got my goat this morning and someone needs to respond:
Sen. Rick Scott: "Democrats want President Trump, Republicans murdered all across this country. Capitalists murdered."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-27T13:50:01.518Z
And more:
All the official WH/GOP accounts are pumping out collective-guilt propaganda blaming Dems/the Left for last night’s incident
— David S. Bernstein (@dbernstein.bsky.social) 2026-04-26T18:35:20.681Z
In a country where we actually had a press and legacy media that understood it’s 1st Amendment responsibility of holding power to account instead of attending a clueless “Capitol of the Hunger Games” type dinner, we might get some pushback to Republicans’ dangerous and every-accusation-is-a-confession rhetoric.
Because, horrors, Democrats have called Trump and his sycophants “fascists”, “extremists” and “existential threats to democracy”.
I wonder? What should someone call people who: incited an insurrection, attempted a coup, promised retribution against his enemies, repeatedly ignore judicial rulings, repeatedly knowingly take unconstitutional actions, continue to summarily execute unknown people on the open seas without evidence, constantly attack the sacred right of all U.S. citizens to vote (both in rhetoric - “elections are rigged”, and in law - The Save Act), attack and kill peaceful protestors, enter homes and disappear people without judicial warrants?
What should someone call a President who said the press is “the enemy of the people”, and attacks his opponents as “low-life scum”, “animals”, “vermin”, “terrorists", “radicals”, “sick of mind”, “out to destroy our country”, “country destroying morons”, “lunatics”, “evil”, “dangerous”, “the enemy from within”, “the party of hate, evil and Satan”, “radical left thugs”, “corrupt dogs” (see links below for proof)?
What should someone call a President who said, "Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."
Kevin Kruse has it right:
If you're a producer for a cable news show, you should have a tight two-minute montage with a sampling of the many times Donald Trump has encouraged political violence, just waiting for the inevitable Republican guest who tries to pretend Democrats are the real problem here.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) 2026-04-27T14:03:56.047Z
Let me see if I can be helpful for those cable news show producers. Here’s results from a quick and rudimentary internet search. Took me a full 15 seconds or so:
Fascism is hard to define, but let’s give it a shot. From Merriam-Webster: “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.”
Unfortunately, throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, there were fascists and extremists who were a direct threat to democracy: Mussolini, Franco, Hitler. There are also current examples of wannabe proto-fascist autocrats who are extreme threats to democracy: Erdogan, Orban, Netanyahu. IMHO, the danger lies not in proactively calling them out, but in passively not doing so. I’m pretty sure history bears me out on that.
Contrast that with the words used by Trump. They’re generally not even related to governance. They’re simply ad hominem attacks against his enemies whom, again, he promised retribution.
