Threats to Elected Officials on the Rise
Threats of violence to elected officials, often involving death threats, are on the rise. This was highlighted by two news reports this week.
Reuters had a report on the death threats school boards are facing across the nation. The impetus of these threats has to do with schools’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic and how schools are choosing to handle issues of race and gender among students. With the rise of several activist groups (many started by conservatives or Republicans) like Moms for Liberty, No Left Turn in Education, and Parents Defending Education, it seems that these threats and issues for schools will not be going away any time soon.
Plus, New York Times reporters Catie Edmondson and Mark Walker wrote a story on the rise of threats against lawmakers. According to Capitol Police and the Times story, threats made against elected officials reached a high of 9,600 last year. Four thousand one hundred of those occurred in just the first three months of 2021. And while the Times reporting does not say this, we all know that the beginning of 2021 was a difficult time for folks working in the nation’s Capital.
But the threats are not just from the right wing, Trump supporters, or QAnon members. While a third of the cases reviewed by the Times came from Republican or pro-Trump individuals to Democrats or not sufficiently pro-Trump Republican politicians, a quarter of the cases were made by Democrats.
This case from Florida is particularly troubling: “In 2018, for example, a Florida man called the office of Representative Brian Mast, Republican of Florida, nearly 500 times and threatened to kill his children over the congressman’s support for Mr. Trump’s family separation policy at the southern border.”
Edmondson and Walker report that once you account for the threats made by Republicans and those made by Democrats, the rest come from those with no discernible political leanings or those caught up in wild conspiracy theories like QAnon. But however you choose to look at the story, one thing is clear: Americans feel more comfortable threatening violence against those they view as political enemies.
These threats are not a Republican, Democrat, or independent problem. It is an American problem.
I have argued before in this newsletter for reclaiming the value of seeing our political opponents as rational humans who can want good while disagreeing with us. Becoming more civil and refusing to treat your opponent as less than is part of that reclamation project.
To be clear, this does not mean that we cannot hold strong convictions. One can have a strong pro-life stance and firmly believe that someone who is pro-choice does not deserve death threats. You can believe that Trump’s family separation policy at the border was abhorrent and also believe that it is abhorrent to threaten the family of a pro-Trump politician. It is baked into being pro-life to believe this.
You can hold solid convictions and still cross the aisle to work with those who differ from you on policies you can agree on. A functioning society demands this.
4 More Things
1) Pew Research has released a new study on increasing public criticism and confusion over the U.S. Covid-19 response. Two things of note, Pew reports that the changing public health guidelines have caused just over half the nation (56%) to question the validity of those guidelines. And while Covid-19 views are still heavily partisan, a majority of both Democrats (86%) and Republicans (76%) believe that hospitals are doing an excellent job responding to the pandemic.
2) A new study has been released on the influence of Christian Nationalism on the January 6th Insurrection. Writing for Religion News Service, Jack Jenkins has a report on the study. Jenkins has one particular quote from the study that stands out: “The Christianity was one of the surprises to me in covering this stuff, and it has been hugely underestimated,” Luke Mogelson, a New York journalist, told Andrew L. Seidel, chief writer of the new study. “That Christian nationalism you talk about is the driving force and also the unifying force of these disparate players. It’s really Christianity that ties it all together.”
3) Continuing the theme of political violence and religion, David French wrote about how churches are helping sow the seeds of political violence in his Dispatch newsletter The French Press. French reports that ‘“FEC United” (FEC stands for faith, education, and commerce) held a “town hall” meeting that featured a potpourri of GOP candidates and election conspiracy theorists.’ This event took place at a church in Colorado called The Rock. In French’s words: “If you think it’s remotely unusual that a truly extremist event (which included more than one person who’d called for hanging his political opponents) was held at a church, then you’re not familiar with far-right road shows that are stoking extremism in church after church at event after event.”
4) Meet The Press Daily had a short interview with Harwood Institute President Rich Harwood and NBC News’ Ben Collins on the Harwood Institute’s latest study on what they call America’s “civic virus.” Harwood and Collins discuss the impact social media has had on helping Americans who are anxious about the state of our nation segregate or separate themselves. Leaders, media members, and social media then exploit this polarization for their gain. This creates a new version of reality that confuses the public, which prompts a flight or fight response in the separated and polarized groups. Finally, these people break into smaller (more radical) “tribes” to gain validation or stop engaging entirely. This “civic virus” perfectly describes the rise of QAnon and other fringe groups, but the whole video is worth watching.