Charlie Kirk's assassination was foreseeable. Not his assassination in particular, but political violence in general, because it was already on the rise. It follows the assassination attempt on trump, his pardoning of the violent Jan 6 seditionists and the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and an uptick in a number of other acts of political violence since he took office.
Political violence is symptomatic of the deterioration of rule of law and democracy. It happens when people lose trust in the institutions that support law and order. No American President in recent history has done more to undermine law and order than the convicted felon-President.
Political violence increases when:
a. It's outwardly and implicitly encouraged by leaders against political rivals. Violence is rhetorically normalized.
b. There is a breakdown in the rule of law. The law enforcement and criminal justice system are weaponized and politicized. The guilty get off scott free, or get unearned clemency, and the innocent go to jail.
No President is recent memory has done more to weaponize politics, demonize political rivals, and tacitly or actively encouraged political violence, as Donald J. Trump. This has the impact of encouraging violence among his supporters as well as among those who oppose him, a vicious cycle. Violence is contagious.
This is a perilous moment for America, but for trump who thrives in chaos, it's political gold. An opportunity to crank up the heated rhetoric, when any normal politican who actually cared about his country would be doing the opposite. Predictably, in a statement from the Oval Office he blamed the 'radical Leftists', implictly encouraging further violence. The politicization of this tragedy feeds trump's agenda of consolidating authoritarian power and militarizing the streets. A very weak president, which is what trump is, weaker than ever, is an even more dangerous president because the only way he can maintain power is to further divide the country and radicalize his supporters.
I would hope that Americans understand the political dynamic underway and resist it. I'm not terribly encouraged that they have the capacity or will.
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Violence breeds violence. trump continues to tyrannize rivals and “the radical left”, recognizing that his speech will only encourage more of same. This will give him the excuse to further his agenda of creating a military dictatorship. How Americans don’t recognize this - or enough Americans - is difficult to comprehend. You hit the nail on the head again, though I wonder: is he really a weak president?
He is weak in the sense that he is the most unpopular and has the lowest job approval rating of any president at this moment in his presidency. The economy is cratering, unemployment is on the rise, and inflation is inching upward. So yes, he is weak, in the sense that his support is declining precipitously.
Plus, and perhaps most importantly, there is the Epstein scandal, which doesn't appear to be going away, and may actually be the main reason for a lot of his decisions - like a starting a drug war with Venezuela.
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