Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:58 pm
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says it is “unfair” to link GOP-MAGA rhetoric to the Paul Pelosi attack because “this was a deranged individual,” and besides, Democratic policies are the actual root cause of our violent culture. According to McDaniel:
Ronna McDaniel on Fox News Sunday says it's "unfair" to link GOP rhetoric to the Pelosi attack bc "this is a deranged individual" and "you can't say people saying 'let's fire Pelosi'" incites violence.
"Violence is up across the board," she adds, as though it was a random crime. pic.twitter.com/ZYY3Q11XRp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 30, 2022
And a portion of the transcript:
“I think this is a deranged individual. You can’t say people saying let’s fire Pelosi or let’s take back the House is saying go do violence, and it’s just unfair.”
It would be unfair if her examples were the entirety of the MAGA message. But McDaniel knows that Trump’s rhetoric (along with many other MAGA pols) goes well beyond pure political arguments. Even Tucker Carlson’s comment that Democrats are a “child sacrifice cult” is so inflammatory that a true believer might feel compelled to violently attack Democrats in defense of “children.”
In blaming Democratic policies, McDaniel lied in order to make her argument seemingly compelling. From The Hill:
“We saw Lee Zeldin’s attacker was on the street right after he attacked him. This is what Democrat policies are bringing,” McDaniel said, referring to an attack earlier this year at a campaign event for New York gubernatorial nominee and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R).
But Zeldin’s attacker was not released after the incident in which he rushed a stage at a campaign rally in July, remaining in custody for several months until a federal judge released him to a rehab facility in October.
When one has to tell a bald-faced lie to make a point, one has no point and is deflecting. To reinforce her argument that Democratic policies are to blame, McDaniel pointed to the violent culture:
“And I think we all need to recognize that violence is up across the board. Lee Zeldin was attacked. We had an assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh and Democrats didn’t refute, you know, didn’t repudiate that. Joe Biden didn’t talk about the assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh.”
McDaniel has two examples. The Zeldin lie was addressed above. And while it’s perhaps legitimate to say that Biden should have said more about the Kavanaugh matter, Biden did sign legislation beefing up security for SCOTUS justices, perhaps the ultimate statement that violence won’t be tolerated. Trump hasn’t said a thing about the attack despite his constant verbal attacks on Pelosi.
McDaniel could have come on the show and noted that the attack was politically motivated and then say that “All of us, from both parties, have a duty to ensure that we’re not fomenting a more violent political scene…” and she would at least be “correct” in a sense. This would be true despite the fact that nearly 40% of Republicans say that violence may be needed as a legitimate political tool.
If Republican politicians are creating a culture in which almost 40% of their voters say violence is legitimate and justified to protect their perception of the American way of life, it isn’t surprising when thousands attack the Capitol or when a deranged individual, convinced the election was stolen, shows up in the Pelosi home as a “legitimate” act.
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