Another attempt on Donald Trump’s life and what it means for the USA.
America is playing a dangerous game with rhetoric—and eventually, dangerous games produce dangerous outcomes.
The reported shooting incident outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where authorities say a gunman opened fire at a Secret Service security checkpoint near the Washington Hilton, should be a blaring alarm bell across the political spectrum. Whatever the shooter’s motive ultimately proves to be, one truth is beyond debate: we are living in an era where violent language is increasingly treated as entertainment, and dehumanizing political opponents has become a form of sport.
That climate matters.
Days before that incident, Jimmy Kimmel used his platform to mock First Lady Melania Trump with this line: “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” It was delivered as a joke—a cutting one—but think about what it invokes: widowhood, death, assassination, loss. In another era, that kind of line would have been recognized as crossing a bright moral line. Today, it gets applause and social media clips.
Then there’s Hasan Piker, who described the alleged killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as “social murder”—an ideological phrase that functions as moral camouflage for homicide. Dress murder up in revolutionary language, and some will start believing violence is not only understandable—but righteous.
That is how societies slide toward political bloodshed.
From a cop’s perspective, this isn’t abstract theory. Once people begin viewing opponents not as fellow citizens but as villains, oppressors, or acceptable targets, violence becomes easier to rationalize. First it’s applause for inflammatory rhetoric. Then it’s excuses for assaults. Then it’s shrugs at attempted assassinations. Then comes retaliation. History is littered with examples.
Equally troubling is how often prominent Democrats and progressive media figures defend or minimize incendiary rhetoric when it comes from their side—brushing it off as satire, anger, or justified outrage rather than condemning it outright. That selective outrage corrodes public trust and normalizes extremism.
Criticize policy? Absolutely. Protest? Unequivocally. Debate passionately? That’s democracy.
But justify murder? Joke casually about widowhood around a political figure? Suggest violence is morally understandable because of ideology?
That’s poison.
The republic cannot survive if Americans begin believing political hatred grants moral permission for violence. Once rhetoric lights the fuse, nobody gets to control the explosion.
The Media Runs from its Own Words…Literally
The left wingers that run most of corporate media have been out to get Trump from the minute he announced his presidential campaign back in 2015. Trump, who had been a Democrat most of his life, was too much to take for the liberal elitists. He threatened to upset the apple cart.
Their constant torrent of anti-Trump narratives, many of them complete falsehoods, has had a chilling effect on our country. There are legions of brainwashed Americans suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome who are incapable of critical thinking when it comes to politics. That is a danger to a country that relies on an informed and educated citizenry to vote.
Their anti-Trump propaganda campaign has likely contributed to several attempts on the life of the President. Media figures routinely refer to Trump as a Nazi, or like Hitler. With a narrative like that, it is no surprise that Trump is under threat like no other President before.
Last night another seemingly deranged individual tried to kill Donald Trump. Another near miss for the President, as the Secret Service was able to subdue the would-be assassin after a brief exchange of gunfire. The man, Cole Tomas Allen, was armed with knives and several firearms.
Allen was a Kamala Harris campaign donator. According to his family he had written a manifesto that stated he was planning on targeting Trump administration officials, and that he attended a “No Kings” rally recently. His social media contained anti-Trump and anti-Christian comments.
There is little doubt that a steady stream of negative Trump stories in the media contributed to whatever demons drove him to try to kill the President. Ironically, Allen’s attempted assassination almost took out members of that very same media.
Trump agreed to attend the White House Correspondent’s Dinner for the first time as President. That was the venue that Allen chose to try to kill Trump. Members of the press ran for the exits as shots rang out. Symbolically, many were running from the results of their own reporting. How ironic.
But the media is on the run in another way because of the pernicious effects of their anti-Trump propaganda campaign. Trust in media has gone down significantly since Trump’s first term. In 2015, Gallup polling showed that people with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly was at 40%. Last year that number was down to 28%, a number that rivals the lack in faith in Congress. Those numbers are reflected in the number of viewers and readers. They are cratering.
Combine those poll numbers with the rise of independent media voices in the podcast world or on outlets like Substack, and it likely peals a death knell for the corporate media as we know it. Last night was appropriate symbolism of an industry on the run.
Pig on Pig Crime
Every cop has probably been called a pig at some point in their career. But collaring a pig?! Can’t say I’ve ever met a cop that has done that.
A few cops in Florida accomplished that noble feat recently. In two separate incidents in Hollywood and Sarasota, Florida, cops were called to the scene of an escaped pig.
In both cases, police leapt into action, successfully apprehending their porcine prey. The pigs were removed to their respective pigsties. Hollywood cops even transported their prize in the back of their patrol car. Good luck cleaning up that mess! Grateful owners rewarded the cops with some vegan bacon. Thaaaaanks.
This Week’s Pod: Vickie Paladino
Guys, join us for a conversation with Vickie Paladino, one of the few conservative voices in NYC government. What’s so refreshing about Vickie: no punches pulled!
You’ve seen her on Fox and elsewhere. And in an age where ideology appears to trump simple common sense (“trump” — see what we did there?), Vickie is not having it.
As the left continues its slide into radical socialism, the few voices willing to speak up against it are often suppressed — as is the case for Vickie, who is currently facing “ethics” violations from the NYC Council just for speaking her mind. Puh-leeeeze….
Join us for a rollicking talk with a New York original: New York City’s Vickie Paladino!
And finally…
And speaking of radical leftists, here’s one who just managed to write down her net worth by tens of millions….
Something tells us there’s a bank is Somalia that just got the deposit of a lifetime.
Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!
