The difference in approach to politics is stark—and dangerous.
There is a very interesting difference between the left and right in American politics. On the right, as a personality moves off the deep end, he is generally denounced and let go. A decade ago, several popular conservative journalists began dabbling in white nationalism. They were fairly quickly removed from the websites on which their work appeared. More recently, several very high profile right-leaning individuals have become in the words of the president regarding one of them “kooky.” They have gone from clear support for Israel to unending demonization of the Jewish state, Jews in general and Bibi Netanyahu in particular. They have invented conspiracy theories putting Israel behind the murder of Charlie Kirk and claimed that the Palestinians treat Christians better than Israelis do. They have lost their minds, and many are more than ready to denounce them and push them away with two hands. This is a healthy state of affairs.
While there are no official demarcations of allowed and forbidden ideas and speech, the average Republican/Trump supporter has a feeling when something has moved beyond the pale. Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson claimed that Charlie Kirk was moving away from Israel and that a confab funded by Bill Ackman was actually a pressure session to get Kirk back on board. Everyone present at the meeting said that such claims were not true and that the meeting was meant to strengthen ties between younger conservatives and the Jewish state. The letter from Kirk to Netanyahu that was supposed to be a smoking gun was published in full and showed the late conservative’s concern for the Jewish state, which he loved. Tucker Carlson claimed that Bibi Netanyahu was running around telling everyone that he controls Donald Trump. Trump put Bibi in the “Beast” for the ride to Jerusalem (a step that requires the official approval of the director of the Secret Service) and praised him to high heaven in the Knesset. We know that we are being played by these former conservative darlings, and we stop following or listening to them. They have destroyed their careers, which will implode soon enough.
What has been described above about the right is simply not true regarding the left. When James Comey put up his dumb “86 47” post, nobody on the left denounced him. Nobody suggested that he should be treated as off-limits, a reckless former FBI director making vague threats against the sitting president. And the same can be said about many officials and politicians on the left. People praising Charlie Kirk’s murder or openly hoping for the assassination of Donald Trump are never let out to pasture by the Official Left. I know of no politician, lobbyist, organizer, or self-identified lefty who has been treated as haram for demanding the death of the president or other conservative officials. The left simply has no bottom. And while the right does not have formal speech rules, it knows when one of its own has gone too far. The left has no such arrangement. Just look at Jay Jones. The man seeking to become Virginia's top law enforcement officer wished death upon a political opponent and his children and Democrats stick by him.
The one rule that Democrats hold firmly is that one cannot praise Donald Trump or anything associated with him. There were those who celebrated the return of law and order to Washington, and they were denounced by their fellow lefties as being lackeys of the president. Democrats are finding it very hard to say good things about the president getting the final Israeli hostages home. One anchor went so far as to give the credit for the agreement between Israel and Hamas to Joe Biden. They have clear rules never to praise either Republicans or their policies. Look at Bobby Kennedy getting poison out of our food, only to be denounced by his former fellow Democrats because they see him as a turncoat. On the other end of the spectrum, the Democrats have no bottom. They can fantasize about a massacre of Trump and his people and nobody will kick them out of the party or claim that they don’t represent “who we are.”
And this thinking has consequences. One cannot really determine how much the murderers of Kirk and the insurance executive in New York were influenced by political chatter. But one can see after the events how many people support these murderers and praise their vile actions. Both victims were young husbands and fathers. Murder should be off-limits, but in a world where politics have replaced religion as the central facet of one’s life, violation of political rules is a capital offense. Many praised Kirk’s murder. And while some were fired from their jobs, I have not heard the Democrats in a single voice denounce anyone who applauds the violent assassination of an American citizen. They are no doubt glad that he is gone as he asked questions for which they have no answers. He engaged with young people and showed them that the nonsense that has filled their heads for 20 years is all lies. His interactions with college students were a threat to the one demographic beyond blacks that was in the bag for Democrats: young voters. No, the Democrats did not jump up and cheer when the young speaker was murdered, but they also did not denounce or push away those who justified his killing.
And this is one of the many differences between the right and left. When Candace Owens claimed that Israel killed Charlie Kirk or that the latter came to her in her dreams to speak of “betrayal,” the conservative movement simply moved away from her. But when Whoopi Goldberg on The View joked that JD Vance and Elon Musk might want to kill Donald Trump, nobody in Washington or in the media suggested that they are no longer affiliated with the Democratic Party or the American left. People who dox or otherwise work against ICE removing illegal alien criminals are not berated by party leaders. Ditto for those who march for violent Hamas rapists or damage property in the name of “climate change.” In the direction of chaos, violence, destruction, and murder, the left has no line beyond which would lead to distancing from the party. The left has no off switch for such situations.
Leaders on the left won’t ask for Donald Trump’s assassination, but they also won’t punish anyone who suggests the same. They will make milquetoast comments condemning leftist violence, but in their hearts, they will be happy when their political opponents are taken out. They had better be careful of the new rules they are crafting. The Republicans might learn them.
