Donald Trump‘s eldest son from his first wife, Don Jr., went on Fox News on Oct. 22 and announced, with the confidence of a man who has never Googled anything, that political violence is a one-way street. His claim: “There is no violence from the right.”
When talking about the recent events, including the demolition of the White House’s East Wing and the No Kings protest, Don Jr. claimed that “we have to watch out for the radical left.” Why? Because he believes their ideas don’t work, “they’re getting desperate, and so they’re resorting to violence.” He went so far as to claim, “There is no violence from the right. It is not both sides, it’s from one side, and it was from the left alone.”
But we have the truth bomb for the junior MAGA maniac. In the United States, research comparing extremist incidents finds that acts linked to left-wing causes are less likely to be violent. Additionally, right-wing and jihadist extremists commit violence at similar levels. And that is not a social media spin, but a peer-reviewed work from scholars at the University of Maryland. (via Start UMD)
Zoom out to fatalities, and the picture gets worse for Don Jr.. Independent syntheses show that right-wing extremist violence has accounted for roughly three-quarters or more of U.S. domestic terrorism deaths since 2001. (via PBS) And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that almost all reports show that right-wing violence has been more frequent and deadlier than left-wing violence in modern America.
But if Junior needs a refresher on headlines, let’s start with Jan. 6. More than 1,500 people have been prosecuted for the Capitol attack carried out by Trump supporters, who tried to overturn the election result. This week, Christopher P. Moynihan, a Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by his father, was arrested for allegedly threatening to assassinate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Pair that with the innocents being assaulted by ICE and crimes against immigrants, and you should have a clear picture.
But, like always, social media did not let Don Jr.’s performance slide. One user called out how “Don Jr. unfortunately has inherited the lying gene from his dad.” Another brought receipts, revealing how “radical acts by left-wing individuals are less likely to be violent.” They added that “right-wing extremism has driven the overwhelming majority of fatalities since 2001.”
Users even linked the START study and a recent research summary for him. But if he knew how to use Google, he wouldn’t be making such statements in the first place. During the same appearance, Junior also claimed that “the Trump-induced anger and rage on the left is beyond idiotic.” He also declared that Democrats “aren’t exactly the brightest people.”
He ended by calling the No Kings protesters “radical, terrorist, violence-preaching lunatics,” throwing a lot of projection for one segment. But it seems he got his script straight from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. However, simply throwing words and having a paid journalist agree with you does not make anything true. What it does is make you look like a clown who missed doing his homework.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
