KEN CUCCINELLI: Now That Was ‘An Existential Threat To Democracy’

“An existential threat to democracy,” “Jim Crow 2.0,” “election subversion” — we’ve heard those dramatic claims and accusations for nearly a decade, growing ever more shrill as the next election approaches.

Well, we had an actual existential threat to democracy on Saturday, July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a 20-year-old tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in this year’s presidential election.

Amazingly, we still do not have any official explanation of the young man’s motive. Was he motivated by the incessant drumbeat from progressive Democrats and, in fact, from President Joe Biden, that Trump represents a threat to democracy? Was he spurred on by Biden saying Trump should be “put in a bullseye?” Was he influenced by a constant refrain of “democracy is at risk” and “Trump must be stopped?”

The president was by no means alone in this hyperbole. The same words, thoughts, ideas and doomsday pronouncements were issued by other progressive Democrats and, with increasing frequency, by what is commonly called the mainstream media. And they were not limited to attacking Trump but were liberally applied to any of the 50% of Americans who did not ascribe to the political and policy orthodoxy of the current administration.

After the assassination attempt failed, there were immediate calls from Biden, other politicians and pundits to “tone down the rhetoric,” mingled with continued accusations of extreme speech from Republicans. That lasted almost two whole days before it became “tone down the rhetoric — but Trump and MAGA are evil, extreme and must be stopped.”