Violence is becoming the new normal of Trump's America

Political violence has existed as long as politics.

- Tim Walz

From both the left and the right, violence against political enemies has been a feature, not a bug, of radical political movements. Vladimir Lenin developed a "science of terror", in which violence was essential to overthrow the state. In Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler declared: “The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence.” And Benito Mussolini declared political violence a necessary tool both in his early days as a socialist and after his conversion to fascism. Radicals demonise their enemies and insist on responding with violence justified by any means.

So there is nothing new about the political violence that is becoming increasingly normalised in American life. While much is aimed at Democrats, the Republicans are not immune. The 2024 campaign saw two assassination attempts on Trump, and, in 2017, Steve Scalise, now the Republican Majority Leader of the House, was shot at a softball game.