In the aftermath of the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an event that an armed gunman attempted to breach, it was widely assumed that Republicans and their allies would immediately blame Donald Trump’s critics for what transpired. To the surprise of no one, that’s precisely what happened, with countless voices on the right insisting that incendiary rhetoric from the left necessarily leads to political violence.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt helped lead the charge, though she did so in a surprising way on Monday: The president’s chief spokesperson didn’t just complain about Trump critics in a general sense; she helpfully referenced specific words and phrases that she characterized as beyond the pale.
“This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat [sic] Party and even some in the media,” Leavitt claimed. She added, “Those who constantly falsely label and slander the president as a ‘fascist,’ as ‘a threat to democracy’ and compare him to Hitler to score political points are fueling this kind of violence.”
It remains important that the White House appears desperate to stifle dissent — a step Republicans reject when the victims of political violence are on the left — and Leavitt was clearly irresponsible in suggesting that criticizing the administration is tantamount to endorsing violence.
But I was especially interested in the press secretary’s three specific examples.
Those who label Trump a “fascist”: Putting aside the debate over whether the Republican has earned the label, it’s worth reminding the public from time to time that Trump himself has routinely described his political opponents as fascists. In fact, around this time two years ago, during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump described the Biden administration as a “fascist government.
After Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign, Trump proceeded to call then-Vice President Kamala Harris a “fascist” several times.
What’s more, let’s also not forget that it’s not just Democrats, scholars and prominent political observers who’ve used the same word to describe the incumbent president’s radicalism: Retired Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s former White House chief of staff; retired Gen. Mark Milley, Trump’s handpicked chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Mark Esper, Trump’s handpicked former defense secretary, also publicly said they consider Trump a fascist.
Those who describe Trump as “a threat to democracy”: Again, putting aside the question of whether the president is, in fact, a genuine threat to democracy, it was curious to hear Leavitt raise this specific point, given the frequency with which he’s lashed out at perceived foes as “a threat to democracy.”
Those who compare Trump to Adolf Hitler: I’m not aware of any leading Democratic officials who’ve compared the president to Hitler, and Leavitt didn’t point to any examples. But for the record, the most prominent political voices that have made the comparison are JD Vance, Trump’s vice president, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s health and human services secretary.
As the day progressed, other Republicans zeroed in on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries having used the phrase “maximum warfare” in the context of redistricting efforts, seemingly unaware of the fact that the New York Democrat borrowed the phrase from a Trump White House official.
What we’re left with, in other words, is a bizarre political dynamic in which the White House publicly called on its critics to stop using the same words and phrases that Trump and his colleagues have used repeatedly, without regret or apology.
Indeed, the entire line of argument reflected a striking failure of self-awareness. Whatever one thinks of the president, there can be little doubt that he’s pushed the rhetorical envelope in radical ways that were once unthinkable in this country. Trump has not only repeatedly called Democratic leaders “fascists,” but he’s also condemned his perceived political foes as “enemies of the people,” “the enemy within,” “threats to democracy,” and “evil.”
As recently as last fall, Trump labeled Democrats the party of “hate, evil, and Satan,” and a month later, after a group of Democratic veterans urged service members to reject illegal orders, the president falsely accused them of engaging in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
If the White House wants to defend Trump’s incendiary record, it’s welcome to try. If the White House wants to express contrition for his inflammatory nonsense, I suspect his targets would welcome an apology.
But if Leavitt and other Republicans are seriously prepared to make the case that the president’s critics should stop echoing Trump’s own language, they’re going to be disappointed by the outcome.
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