Thread by @lrozen

🧵”historians and those who study democracy say what has changed has been the embrace of violent speech by a sizable portion of one party...

In effect, they warn, the Republican Party is mainstreaming menace as a political tool.”

https://twitter.com/jamilsmith/status/1459565947723857925

“even with the former president largely out of the public eye and after a deadly attack on the Capitol where rioters tried to overturn the presidential election, the Republican acceptance of violence has only spread.”

“Notably few Republican leaders have spoken out against violent language or behavior since Jan. 6, suggesting with their silent acquiescence that doing so would put them at odds with a significant share of their party’s voters.”

“The ranking G.O.P. lawmakers, Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Kevin McCarthy, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. McCarthy, who initially condemned the Jan. 6 attack and said ‘violence is never a legitimate form of protest,’ more recently has joked about

“hitting Nancy Pelosi in the head with a gavel if he were to replace her as speaker. Like nearly all of the members of his caucus, McCarthy has said nothing about Gosar’s video.”

The base has been radicalized and party officials are afraid of them

“Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former congressman from Florida who is a critic of Trump, said Republicans needed to take a stronger approach against violent language and intimidation tactics.”

“The increasing violence of Republican speech has been accompanied by a willingness of G.O.P. leaders to follow Mr. Trump’s lead and shrug off allegations of domestic violence that once would have been considered disqualifying for political candidates in either party.”

“...Sean Parnell, a Senate candidate in Pennsylvania who was endorsed by Trump, appeared in court this week in a custody fight in which his estranged wife accuses him of choking her and physically harming their children.” NRSC chair Rick Scott declined to repudiate Parnell.

“There is little indication that the party has paid a political price for its increasingly violent tone... Yet violent talk has tipped over into actual violence in ways big and small. School board members & public health officials have faced a wave of threats,

“prompting hundreds to leave their posts. A recent investigation by Reuters documented nearly 800 intimidating messages to election officials in 12 states.”

“And threats against members of Congress have jumped by 107 percent compared with the same period in 2020, according to the Capitol Police...

Rep. Debbie Dingell, “said she was threatened by men with assault weapons outside her home last year after she was denounced by Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show, shared a small sample of what she said were hundreds of profanity-laden threats she has received.”

“Dingell, a Michigan Democrat...praised a Republican colleague, Rep. Fred Upton, for publicly sharing some of the threats he received after voting to approve the infrastructure bill.”