Editorial | Why is political violence never okay in the US but perfectly fine overseas?

Donald Trump was shot in the ear at a political rally in Butler County last Saturday. Following the attempted assassination, public officials and politicians on both sides of the aisle quickly took to social media to denounce the shooter and the use of political violence as America approaches the 2024 presidential election.

It’s very easy to condemn any and all political violence when it happens here at home, especially when it leaves civilians dead or injured. We live in a very polarized nation, and the potential consequences of an assassination, even an attempted one, are frightening to think about when we, as American citizens, could be the ones caught in the crossfire.

But in their grand statements of unity and their condemnations of violence in politics, our nation’s leaders often sneak in a footnote that clarifies that their cries for peace only extend to America’s borders.

Perhaps former President Barack Obama said it best in his statement on Twitter following the attempted assassination — “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy.”

Because, of course, there is a place for political violence outside of our democracy, or so Obama suggested by his enthusiasm for the U.S. Drone Programme. During his presidential terms, Obama oversaw the murder of hundreds of civilians by drone strike in the Middle East as part of the “War on Terror.”

President Biden also made it clear that he won’t tolerate this behavior domestically — “There’s no place in America for political violence” — but the billions of dollars he approves for Israeli military aid, used to kill nearly 40,000 Palestinians and reduce half the homes in Gaza to rubble, are the only way to settle a conflict an ocean away from our great nation. The same day that America’s representatives came together to denounce the attempted assassination of President Trump, Israel attempted to kill Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif with an airstrike that killed 90 civilians and injured 300 more. 

America is not an exception for being the supposed land of the free. If life and peace are fair standards for the American people, they should be fair standards for the people of any country, no matter how far away. Our leaders are quick to reprehend the violence that might someday come knocking at their door but choose to ignore or proudly endorse the violence that decimates oppressed foreign nations.

Political violence has claimed far more victims than Trump’s right ear — victims deemed unworthy of recognition by the great leaders of the free world. Do not fall for the propaganda of politicians who portray our own nation as the bastion of political civility while treating people overseas like rabid dogs.