I don’t think we are anywhere near the end of the current epidemic of political violence from the Left. Why? Because an attraction to violence, and the urge to incite violence, is pervasive in liberal circles. Mark Steyn notes some instances, including this one:
All that can be said for certain is that, if you live almost anywhere in the western world, violence is in your future. For the moment, it comes overwhelmingly from the political left and their various shock-troops, whether Antifa or your local migrant sex-fiends. Because the left are the most turned on by it. Even the comparatively peaceful ones can’t stop salivating over the thought of killing you. Here, for example, a perfectly nice respectable American lady – probably listens to NPR – has a grand old time beheading an effigy of Trump:
Old woman wearing a “be kind” shirt tries to decapitate a Trump effigy pic.twitter.com/lUoSzDzDc5
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 22, 2025
I am not aware of any liberals who see anything wrong with this.
Mark also notes Kamala Harris’s recent appearance on the Rachel Maddow show, where Harris described Donald Trump as a “tyrant” and a “Communist dictator,” among other things. This is why people keep trying to assassinate the President.
Is Ms Harris not worried that, by de-legitimising her opponent’s lawful, peaceful and democratic victory over her good self, some excitable types might try to, say, shoot his head off?
Aw, that’s crazy talk. Nobody would ever try to assassinate Trump. If they did, it would be in the papers, wouldn’t it?
Observe, by the way, Rachel Maddow’s reaction to Kamala’s tyrant talk. This interview comes mere days after one of her fellow current-affairs commentators and show hosts was gunned down on stage in front of his audience. Yet Ms Maddow betrays no suggestion that any similar peril might possibly await her. From her reaction to Ms Harris’s blithely insouciant dictator shtick, one might almost get the impression that live appearances are only dangerous for one side of the political spectrum.
Of course that is true. Violence is one of the many asymmetries in our political life. It is so far, anyway. Whether that will continue indefinitely is anyone’s guess.
