While Many Feel Trump Himself Has Given Rise to Hate Crimes
President Trump was in New Jersey this weekend to play rounds of golf, when it was interrupted by two deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, occurred within less than 24 hours of one another. Between the two mass shootings, at least 29 people were killed, and many more dozens injured.
Trump spoke to reporters about the two mass shootings over the weekend at the Morristown Airport in New Jersey, and had this to say:
“Hate has no place in our country, and we're going to take care of it.”
He boasted that his administration has done more to curb these kinds of shootings, but conceded that "probably more has to be done." It took a series of four high-profile mass shootings inside of a week, and two very deadly mass shootings in less than 15 hours, in which at least 29 people were killed, for him to make that concession.
Some people feel that Trump has done next to nothing to try and curtail mass shootings specifically, and gun violence more generally, since taking office. In fact, some feel that he has done far more harm than good. Let us not fail to remember that very early in his administration, in February of 2017, Trump undid an Obama-era measure revoking gun checks for people with mental illness.
Consider the levels of violence that the nation has experienced just since Trump took office:
Eight of the deadliest shootings in the last seven decades have occurred since Trump took office in January of 2017. There was the Las Vegas shooting of 2017 which killed 58 (plus the perpetrator, which has the dubious distinction of being the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The fifth deadliest mass shooting came shortly thereafter in Texas at the Sutherland Springs church shooting, which killed 26, plus the perpetrator. The very recent El Paso shooting over the weekend is the eighth deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, with 20 dead. Last year, the ninth worst mass shooting took place at Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 were killed. The 17th worst mass shooting in modern American history came at the Thousand Oaks shooting in 2018, where 12 were killed not including the perpetrator. 12 people were also killed at the Virginia Beach shooting earlier this year, not including the perpetrator. The 23rd worst shooting was at the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018, when 11 lost their lives, as well as the perpetrator. Finally, the 25th worst mass shooting in modern American history came at Santa Fe High School shooting last year, when 10 people were killed.
Is that just a coincidence? Or is this an indicator that Trump has, at the very least, not been helpful at all in fixing this problem?
Of course, he praises his own administration's response, but many are not at all impressed.
Many have long accused Trump of ramping up divisive politics and polarization, as well as fostering an atmosphere where hatred has grown. He has seemed to many to have fostered racist, xenophobic, and hateful sentiments, with numerous instances where he seemed to be giving an unofficial nod to promote violence. It started with his presidential campaign, when he accused Mexican immigrants of being criminals and rapists, declared himself in favor of setting up a national registry of Muslims, and generally took and encouraged (and thrived from) a xenophobic stance that, ultimately, helped him to get elected.
Since he was elected, this air of divisive, incredibly polarizing politics has not only continued, but been ramped up. He continued to propose building the wall, even when many experts warned him it would be ineffective and a waste of money. He referred to dozens of countries in Africa and Central America as “shithole nations.” Recently, he suggested that four Congresswomen, all non-white, should go back to their countries, even though they are all Americans who were elected to Congress to represent their districts. Almost anytime anyone criticizes him or his policies, he claims that it is “fake news,” and also accuses his political opponents of hating America. All of this seems incredibly polarizing to many people the world over.
On top of that, there have seen specific instances when Trump has seemingly indirectly advocated violence, but he has been coy, having done it in such a way where he can deny any direct responsibility from any specific act or acts. Yet, some of these instances have been borderline, where he seemed almost to outright be encouraging violence. He outright claimed that he would pay the legal bills of anyone who would punch a protester at one of his rallies in the face while still a candidate. A few months ago during a rally in Florida, Trump laughed after one of his supporters in the audience yelled out “Shoot ‘em!” while Trump was discussing migrants, and after smiling, Trump joked "That's only in the Panhandle you can get away with this stuff. Only in the Panhandle," referring to a region of Florida that has remained strongly loyal to Trump. Also, he has repeatedly suggested that his supporters were a powerful group not to be messed with, almost hinting at some kind of violent reaction from them if they do not get their way. In fact, not long ago, he claimed that they might demand that he get a third term, even though he has not yet won a second term, and even lost the popular vote by 2.7 million in the 2016 election. Also, let us not forget that Trump threatened to wipe entire nations off the map, particularly North Korea and Iran. And for all of this, his supporters, and Trump himself, evidently, believe that Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize.
Some major names in the Democratic 2020 race have been outspoken in their criticism of Trump, and the role that he has had in the spikes in violent hate crimes since his campaign first rose to prominence, and perhaps especially since Trump took office.
Here are some of the things that they said:
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders opened a town hall meeting with a moment of silence and by calling for universal background checks for firearms purchases and more restrictions on assault weapons.
“Assault weapons are designed for one reason. They are military weapons. And I don’t have to explain that to the people in Las Vegas who experienced the worst gun tragedy in the history of this country,” Sanders said. He urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call senators back to Washington, saying the Senate should “have a special session to address gun violence in America and let us finally have the courage to take on the NRA.”
He also called out the president. “I say to President Trump, please stop the racist anti-immigrant rhetoric,” he said. “Stop the hatred in this country which is creating the kind of violence that we see.”
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker:
“There is complicity in the president’s hatred that undermines the goodness and the decency of Americans regardless of what party. To say nothing in a time of rising hatred, it’s not enough to say that ‘I’m not a hate monger myself.’ If you are not actively working against hate, calling it out, you are complicit in what is going on.”
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said confronting white nationalist terrorism would be embarrassing for a president who “helped stoke many of these feelings in this country to begin with.”
“At best, he’s condoning and encouraging white nationalism,” Buttigieg said.
Senator Kamala Harris of California also found blame in Trump’s use of language, which she said has “incredible consequence.”
“We have a president of the United States who has chosen to use his words in a way that have been about selling hate and division among us,” she told reporters before attending services at a black church in Las Vegas.
I, for one, have some serious questions regarding Trump's duplicity with tacitly encouraging violence, than divorcing himself from all responsibility as soon as anyone calls him out on it. So far, it is hard to argue that Trump has represented anything but a marked spike in violence and hate crimes ever since his political rise in 2016.
The evidence certainly seems to speak for itself.
Here are the links to the numerous articles I used in writing this particular blog entry, including all of the quotes used above:
Trump on mass shootings: 'Hate has no place in our country' BY JORDAN FABIAN - 08/04/19:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/456123-trump-on-mass-shootings-hate-has-no-place-in-our-country?fbclid=IwAR0m_QEiBVSvbQwUbaLqtjgp8OrAbmPDYybDxjSGtepb5z4PHx8cNHz5iwM
2020 Democrats lay blame on Trump’s rhetoric for shootings By HUNTER WOODALL and HOPE YEN, August 4, 2019:
https://www.apnews.com/ec74c3c86d1f44c0afc40ba2c6c81702
'Perhaps more has to be done': Donald Trump speaks out after 29 killed in mass shootings The US president has been accused of "encouraging white nationalism" after two shootings took place within hours of each other. By Lucia Binding and Tom Gillespie, news reporters Monday 5 August 2019:
https://news.sky.com/story/democrats-criticise-racist-trump-after-29-killed-in-mass-shootings-in-texas-and-ohio-11777732
Trump smirked at idea of shooting migrants at rally three months before El Paso massacre ‘How do you stop these people?’ US president said about undocumented Mexicans Zamira Rahim, August 4, 2019:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-shooting-migrants-video-rally-el-paso-a9038961.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2u6KvXB1BDKtZOhE5CX1LVFL1IkWGTQhZ-uOT25EG_qIdUa85UecakASo#Echobox=1564950041
Trump Signs Bill Revoking Obama-Era Gun Checks for People With Mental Illnesses by Ali Vitali, Feb. 28, 2017:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221?fbclid=IwAR26qVMtSmRdwikSPY_hjN69B3rDffeVjpQ53Mmde8qfEBfgueVCNB_UNMo
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