‘The rhetoric of the Left has fueled a culture where violence against conservatives is not only tolerated, but justified.‘
The nation stands at a crossroads. We are living through a moment when political rhetoric is no longer just about winning elections—it is about shaping identities, fueling hostility, and in some cases, justifying violence. For more than a decade, leading voices on the Left have engaged in the dehumanization of conservatives, Republicans, the MAGA movement, and Donald Trump himself. History teaches us that dehumanization always precedes atrocities. To ignore this lesson is to invite tragedy.
The recent assassination of Charlie Kirk and attempted assassinations of President Donald Trump are not an isolated act. It is the bitter fruit of years of programming an entire generation into believing an utterly absurd fantasy—that America is on the brink of being overtaken by ‘fascists.’ When a narrative of that kind is repeated endlessly through universities, newsrooms, and social media feeds, it becomes internalized. The bullet casings left behind by the alleged shooter symbolize not only his actions, but also the steady drip of dehumanization that radicalized him long before he pulled the trigger.
How Dehumanization Works
Across history, from the genocides of the twentieth century to smaller-scale outbreaks of political violence, dehumanization has been the opening act. Strip your opponent of dignity, reduce them to caricatures, portray them as existential threats—and you lay the psychological groundwork for violence to be tolerated, even celebrated. When prominent Democrat leaders equated American nationalism with ‘fascism’, they were not just stretching rhetoric; they were fueling a mindset where violence against their opponents became thinkable.
Polls now confirm the results of this campaign. A survey released just one day before the assassination attempt revealed that 34 percent of college students believe violence is sometimes justified to silence a speaker. That figure stood below 20 percent only five years ago. Even more disturbingly, a majority of left-leaning respondents have said they would condone the murder of Donald Trump. These numbers should alarm every American who values freedom of thought and peaceful civic life.
The University Pipeline
This radicalization did not emerge spontaneously. It grew out of a pipeline that begins in universities and spills directly into the media, government, and cultural institutions. Since at least 2012, there has been a documented surge in radicalized language—racism, white supremacy, fascism—appearing in mainstream coverage. It is no coincidence that the same generation immersed in that discourse is now the most sympathetic to censorship, intolerance, and even violence.
The irony is that these tactics were justified in the name of “tolerance.” As far back as the 1960s, segments of the Left argued that “repressive tolerance” demanded shutting down voices they deemed dangerous. That seed has now fully bloomed into a culture where silencing others, even violently, is seen as moral. The campuses that once promised free inquiry have become breeding grounds for revolutionary dogma, where America itself is cast as irredeemably corrupt and in need of destruction.
A Party Without an Agenda
Why did this happen? Because the Democratic Party ran out of a positive agenda. Their last major legislative achievements—healthcare reform under President Obama and a climate package under President Biden—are now years behind us. On the issues they once championed, such as crime or economic justice, reality has undercut their narratives. Police violence has declined even as the rhetoric against law enforcement has intensified. The Democratic strategy has not been to build but to divide. Lacking substance, they substituted spectacle—convincing voters that conservatives were not just wrong but evil, not just opponents but oppressors.
This strategy has turned the party into something darker. It has embraced an anti-American, anti-civilizational ideology. One can see it in the climate debates that cast humanity itself as a scourge, in the radical redefinitions of gender and family, and in the ceaseless attacks on the very foundations of Western civilization. What emerges is less a political program than a death spiral, an ideology of despair that corrodes every institution it touches.
The Path to De-Radicalization
If the Left is unwilling to take responsibility for the culture of dehumanization it has cultivated, then others must call them to account. But accountability alone will not be enough. America needs a path of de-radicalization. Other nations facing extremism have learned that radicalized individuals must be offered three things: a new purpose, a new identity, and a new community. Most of all, they must be reintroduced to a story that is true.
For Americans, that story is not one of oppression but of freedom. It is the story of the freest society ever built, a nation that—despite its flaws—has given more opportunity and dignity to more people than any civilization in history. It is the story of men and women building families, communities, and institutions on a foundation of faith and ordered liberty. That story is the antidote to despair and the cure for radicalization.
A Warning and a Call
The tragedy we now face did not appear from nowhere. It is the direct consequence of a decade of rhetoric that stripped half the country of its humanity. If Democrat leaders refuse to renounce it, if universities refuse to reverse it, then the tide of violence will only rise. We cannot wait until another tragedy forces us to reckon with it.
America is different from every oppressive society in the past. But it will only remain different if we actively protect the dignity of every citizen, regardless of party or creed. To do less is to surrender to the logic of dehumanization, and history has shown us where that road always leads.
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