Defenders of Donald Trump are accusing the Democrats of “hateful rhetoric” that has “stoked the flames of violence” – and are doing so with an entirely straight face.
The accusation came after Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer responded to comments Trump made about women at one of his rallies over the weekend: he told supporters “women will be happy, healthy, confident and free” if he is elected – so much so that “you will no longer be thinking about abortion”.
Speaking in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union, Governor Whitmer said Trump is “just deranged”.
“I think, you know, this guy just doesn’t understand what the average woman is confronting in her life in this country, and how could he? He’s not lived a normal life,” she said.
“He’s just deranged.”
In response to her comments, a spokesperson for Trump, Steven Cheung, said Kamala Harris and the liberal Democrats “are the ones who are deranged”.
“There have been two heinous assassination attempts on President Trump, and their violent rhetoric are directly to blame,” Cheung said.
“Their outright lies and weaponization of the justice system to perpetuate countless witch-hunt hoaxes against President Trump have been nothing short of disgusting and abhorrent.
“If the Democrats and Kamala Harris do not come out and apologise for their hateful rhetoric and tone down their attacks that have stoked the flames of violence, they are explicitly advocating for and inciting more bloodshed against President Trump.”
In the lead up to the election in November, the Democrats’ strategy in discrediting Harris’ opponent is to call Trump “weird”. By all accounts, no “explicit” call to violence has been made from Harris HQ.
Meanwhile, Trump’s track record for inciting violence isn’t exactly clean. In fact, he’s facing criminal charges for it.
So, is it the pot calling the kettle black? To answer that question, here are just a handful of times Trump has “stoked the flames of violence”. Then you can decide for yourself.
Black Lives Matter protests: ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts.’
In 2020, thousands of Americans took to the streets as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. The demonstrations in 2020 were sparked by the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Trump was President at the time, but used his position of power to irresponsibly antagonise the people who were protesting. Writing on Twitter, he called them “thugs” and parroted a phrase that incited police brutality against civil rights activists in the 1960s.
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump tweeted.
Inquiries into police conduct during the 2020 protests found several incidents of authorities mishandling the protests, due to insufficient training and militarised responses.
January 6, 2021 – The Capitol riots
The most consequential of Trump’s alleged incitements of violence took place on January 6, 2021 in Washington D.C. following his defeat in the 2020 Presidential election.
Standing by his claim that the election was rigged and stolen from him, Trump stood in front of a large crowd of his supporters to address the “egregious assault on our democracy”.
“We’re gonna walk down – and I’ll be there with you – we’re gonna walk down to the Capitol… you’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Trump told the crowd.
Five people died as a result of the attack on the government building and dozens of people were injured, including 174 police officers. According to reports, four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide in the months after the incident.
In August last year, a grand jury indicted Trump on four charges for his alleged role in the attack. Trump pleaded not guilty, and the trial has been postponed for the time being.
Attack on Paul Pelosi
Trump’s constant stream of misinformation, name-calling and unhinged accusations are actually listened to by his supporters – including a man and far-right conspiracy theorist named David DePape.
In October 2022, DePape broke into the home of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, intending to take her hostage and interrogate her. When he broke in, DePape attacked Pelosi’s husband, Paul, fracturing his skull with a hammer.
Trump, who is highly critical of “crazy Nancy Pelosi” (as he often refers to her as), has never condemned the attack. In fact, at one of his rallies in September 2023, Trump made light of the brutal attack.
“We’ll stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi who ruined San Francisco… how’s her husband doing, by the way, anybody know?” Trump said.
“And she’s against building a wall at our border even though she has a wall around her house, which obviously didn’t do a very good job.”
Violence in Springfield
Trump recently went head to head with Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in a debate earlier this month.
Among a myriad of inaccurate claims from Trump was one that blew up on social media – because if the stakes weren’t as high as they are, it would be nothing but hilarious.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs – the people that came in – they’re eating the cats,” Trump said. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
While the video has gone viral, Springfield has actually faced serious threats of violence since Trump made this claim, which was instantaneously fact-checked by the debate moderators at the time.
According to reports, hospitals, schools, universities and Springfield’s city hall – as well as many city officials – received bomb threats in the days after the debate. Governor Mike DeWine said there have been at least 33 threats, which all turned out to be hoaxes.