OPINION: We must reject toxic rhetoric after violence in Virginia

On May 23, New York’s Shakespeare in the Park purportedly sought to spice up an otherwise bland production by repugnantly acting out the stabbing death of President Trump.

On May 30, persistent provocateur Kathy Griffin tweeted a faux gruesome picture of herself holding the severed, bloodied head of the president.

And on June 14, an outspoken supporter of Bernie Sanders crossed the line from violent words to violent action as he opened fire on a Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

The correlation — not causation — between sick and twisted words and subsequent deadly action should not go unnoticed. For as the lines of human decency and mutual respect are blurred if not erased altogether, the violent among us attack in what they view as an “anything goes” atmosphere.

We used to demand respect for the president of the United States — whoever that may be.

{mosads}Recall the way in which Rep. Joe Wilson was derided for shouting “you lie” at President Obama during a joint session of Congress or the way Gov. Jan Brewer was scorned for wagging her finger at Obama on a tarmac. And then there was the New Yorker cover portraying Obama in traditional Muslim garb as the first lady fist-pounded him in military attire. It was widely condemned. These were three of “the worst moments of disrespect to Obama,” according to a CNN article.

But in President Trump’s short tenure at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the disrespect is widespread and increasingly alarming.

Caustic political rhetoric took a toxic turn in tone when Kathy Griffin raised the severed head of the president and when Shakespeare in the Park enacted his assassination. Shakespeare in the Park has yet to apologize for its wrongdoing, while Griffin issued a desperate retraction after her stunt backfired. Her weak apology was weakened further when — within 24 hours — she held a televised press conference with a lawyer at her side, claiming that President Trump, the victim, had ruined her. From apologetic to victim blaming in the short span of a day!

While some acted responsibly in severing ties with Griffin, others — like Jim Carrey — jumped to her defense. “It’s the job of the comedian to cross the line at all times… The comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing,” he said. The last voice of truth was proffering the president’s head? Just sick.

This toxic tone has created a toxic environment, one in which a 66-year-old left-wing shooter picked up a gun and fired at a group of GOP politicians and staffers. The attack came just after the man reportedly asked and made sure that the targets were indeed Republicans.

Now, this is not to suggest that Griffin or the Shakespeare actors directly caused the events of yesterday. But there is no doubt that ginning up hatred and animosity can engender an even deeper, perhaps deadly hatred among the nefarious.

In all of this, there is a deep irony. For months we have heard about the elusive “violent Trump supporter” wreaking havoc on society. The horrible bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers were immediately tied to Trump and his followers. Only later did we find — without much fanfare or reporting — that the threats actually came from an anti-Trump journalist. It was more anti-Trump hatred that the left tried to tie to the victim.

This correlation between toxic, irresponsible rhetoric and actual violence was at work too in the tragic shooting of five Dallas police officers last July after a Black Lives Matter demonstration. For months, some elements of the Black Lives Matter movement shouted horrifying chants along America’s streets.

“Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon,” they shouted.

“What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want it? Now!”

Hollywood too fed into the negativity. An episode of “Scandal” seemed to re-enact the Ferguson shooting with actors who looked identical to Officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown. One difference from the actual event — the show changed the fact pattern of Ferguson just enough to incriminate Wilson. Instead of an officer acting in lawful self-defense (recall that even the Obama White House came to this conclusion), the officer planted a knife on the victim in what amounted to yet another unfortunate demonization of the innocent Officer Wilson.

This war on cops in pop culture and in parts of our politics created a toxicity, a toxicity that the Dallas shooter bought into. The shooter expressed that he “wanted to kill white people, especially police officers” and that he was “upset about Black Lives Matter… and the recent police shootings.”

Though Black Lives Matter disowned the shooter, they cannot disown the anger toward officers they have sewn.

It is encouraging to see the left and the right come together amid the attack on the Republican baseball team. Last night, the Democrats hosted the Republicans to a dinner before the game. That is a positive step forward, but it is still not enough. We have a responsibility, not only to respect our political counterparts, but to stand united against the toxic rhetoric aimed at a sitting U.S. president.

Kayleigh McEnany (@KayleighMcEnany) is a graduate of Harvard Law School. She completed her undergraduate degree at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and studied politics at Oxford University.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.