Is Democratic Rhetoric Fueling Violence Among Fringe Progressives?

Is Democratic Rhetoric Fueling Violence Among Fringe Progressives?

People were shocked in June 2018 when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), unable to hide her contempt for President Donald Trump or anyone associated with him, urged her supporters to harass Trump administration cabinet officials — wherever they might be.

Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.

By today’s standards, Waters’ rhetoric sounds almost tame. Shortly after her words were uttered, the Democratic Party took a sharp left turn — and with that shift, the masks came off. The first casualty was the thin veneer of civility that had once separated the party’s progressive wing from outright anarchists.

Seven years later, after the George Floyd riots, the “defund the police” protests, the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that swept college campuses following the October 7 massacre in Israel, and attempts to bankrupt and even jail Trump, radical rhetoric has become normalized. And the Democratic party has become almost unrecognizable.

I came across a social media post from conservative radio host and commentator Erick Erickson on Wednesday that stopped me in my tracks. He wrote:

We are watching the slow motion collaboration of the American press corps and political left pushing fringe progressives towards murder all while claiming, falsely, Trump is getting people killed. And it is a press + political left collaboration towards murder.

Erickson’s words struck me as extreme at first. But after reading the post a second time, I realized he was spot on. This is precisely what’s happening: the incendiary rhetoric from Democrats and the legacy media is indeed giving the “fringe progressives” the green light to dial up the violence.

We are watching the slow motion collaboration of the American press corps and political left pushing fringe progressives towards murder all while claiming, falsely, Trump is getting people killed. And it is a press + political left collaboration towards murder.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 9, 2025

On Monday, Axios published a round-up of House Democrats saying their constituents at town halls and in one-on-one meetings are telling them “civility isn’t working” and to prepare for “violence … to fight to protect our democracy.” And it’s always under the guise of “protecting our democracy.” (I wrote about the Axios article here.)

Voters told one Democrat, who wished to remain anonymous, “what we really need to do is be willing to get shot” when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies. “Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough … [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public.” [Emphasis added.]

More and more, we’re seeing far-left extremists — emboldened by the rhetoric they hear from Democrats — take matters into their own hands.

Last month, we watched the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles quickly spiral into violence.

On July 4, 11 individuals carried out a “preplanned” ambush on law enforcement officers at the ICE Prairie Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Ten have been charged by the Justice Department with attempted murder.

On Monday, a left-wing lunatic targeted law enforcement officers at a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas.

In a Tuesday news release from ICE, the agency reported”

ICE officials currently face a 700% increase in assaults as activists masquerading as immigrant advocates continue to impede operations. On July 2, a man repeatedly rammed an ICE vehicle with his car in Linda Vista, California, before three activists attacked agents.

And ICE officials are not the only targets of political violence. In May, two Israeli embassy staffers leaving an evening event were shot dead outside the facility.

One of the most egregious incidents occurred in December when Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate stalked and gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.

He quickly became a hero among the Left. Rather than outrage over Mangione’s crime, many celebrated Thompson’s death, citing UnitedHealthcare’s record of denying healthcare claims. They justified Mangione’s actions because they, too, were denied insurance coverage in the past.

It shouldn’t surprise us that calls for political violence often precede political violence.

This is a national death wish. pic.twitter.com/YciGxOcqPa

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 7, 2025

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York addressed the issue in a recent column: “Obviously, these are Democrats who have moved beyond the defeat-them-at-the-ballot-box stage of politics, and even beyond the protest-by-civil-disobedience stage. They’re ready to turn a political fight into a physical fight.”

York pointed to recent reports showing a major plunge in the percentage of Democrats who say they are proud to be American. He wrote:

Back in 2015, when Barack Obama was president, 80% of Democrats said they were extremely or very proud to be American, according to Gallup. Today, with Trump in the White House, the number is less than half of that, 36%.

And he summed up the situation:

Some Democrats are calling on their elected representatives to engage in violence against Trump’s policies. At the same time, groups that might be characterized as militant allies of the progressive Democratic movement are resorting to violence in an effort to obstruct the president’s enforcement of federal immigration law. Some radicals have committed politically motivated murder, for which they received support in some far-left circles. And it is all happening in the context of one of the two major political parties experiencing a sharp drop in the most basic measure of civic devotion: pride in being an American.

Are Democratic politicians and pundits hoping that their extreme rhetoric will drive some of the “fringe” members of the party to violence? It sure looks that way.

One (anonymous) House Democrat told Axios, “Not only would that be a gift to Donald Trump, not only would it make the job of Republicans in Congress easier if we were all mired in legal troubles … [we are] a group that is disproportionately people of color, women, LGBTQ people — people who do not fare very well in prison.”

Yes, they really said that.

They’re willing to talk tough, file articles of impeachment against Trump, interrupt the press conferences of Trump cabinet officials, and bully ICE officials at immigration detention centers, but they don’t want to do the “dirty work” themselves.

Unfortunately for them, the public is starting to catch on.

Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.

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