"I don't approve of violence, but..."

But, in fact, they DO approve of violence, or at least think that violence can be justified to achieve political goals in the United States. 

I've written a number of pieces about how the left has embraced violence, arguing that there is nothing fringe about the riots, assaults, vandalism, and even murder that has been sweeping our country. 

During the George Floyd riots, we saw every Democrat politician in the country literally kneeling in celebration of the riots, egging them on, musing about how the violence was justified, calling the takeover of our cities the "summer of love," and attacking Republicans for not embracing the "mostly peaceful" burning down of our cities. 

When people died in the riots, we got the "I don't approve of violence, but..." excuses, which amounted to "I approve of violence" in this case. 

Now, Rutgers University and The National Contagion Research Institute have partnered on a study to determine to what extent people approve of political violence, and they have discovered a growing "assassination culture" developing on the left. 

SURVEY: 55% Of Self-Identified Leftists Say Killing Trump Is Justifiablehttps://t.co/fCCPuBbCLR

— The Federalist (@FDRLST) April 7, 2025

Fifty-five percent of people who self-identify as left-of-center--so we are not just talking about BLM and Antifa, but plenty of average Democrats, believe that killing Donald Trump or Elon Musk would be at least "somewhat justified." 

In other words, if they lose an election, they wouldn't be unhappy if some nutter took out their political opponents with a bullet. 

NCRI, an independent institution working to “identify and forecast emerging threats in the era of information disorder,” finds the pattern is building on a broader trend discussed in two reports in December that analyzed “how viral social media narratives were legitimizing political violence, particularly in the aftermath of the United Healthcare CEO’s assassination.” 

“The reports found widespread justification for lethal violence — including assassination — among younger, highly online, and ideologically left-aligned users,” the authors of the latest study write. 

They note the spillover effect beyond the online world, illustrated by a proposed California ballot measure macabrely named “the Luigi Mangione Access to Health Care Act,” celebrating the alleged leftist terrorist and murderer of United Healthcare head Brian Thompson. The ballot measure targets health insurance denials, one of Mangione’s reported flashpoints. 

On Friday, a California man reportedly “angry with pharmacies” was arrested on charges of murdering a Walgreens employee just days after the Luigi Mangione Act was filed with the state. ABC 30 reported that Erick Velazquez, the victim, was not a pharmacist, and was a respected husband and father of two.

"The Luigi Mangione Access to Healthcare Act." Let that sink in. 

You and I noticed how assassination rhetoric both preceded and popped up pre and post-assassination attempts on Donald Trump. It took about 5 minutes for posts on social media to complain that Thomas Crooks wasn't a better shot (he actually only failed because Trump moved his head by a few millimeters, so his shot was nearly perfect). 

Biden supporters poured millions into the Lincoln Project even after Rick Wilson went on TV to call on people to "put a bullet" into Trump, and there were signs emblazoned with 86-47 (kill Trump) all over the protests this weekend. Luigi Mangione merchandise flew off the shelves after his murder of Thompson, and his legal team of the highest-powered lawyers in the country has raised almost a million dollars to fund his defense. 

The modern left began its current incarnation during the French Revolution, which spawned the Terror, and a popular leftist magazine often quoted is called Jacobin--referring to the French leftists who gave us the Terror. 

When Elon Musk bought Twitter, there was a mass movement among the leftists of Twitter to create their own social media company based on the claim that Twitter had become right-wing--despite actual surveys showing that Twitter was the most ideologically diverse and balanced social media platform, divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans. 

Bluesky, which claims to be filled with compassionate leftists, is chock full of calls to violence and assassination, which appears to be the comfortable spot for many "mainstream" journalists and commentators. 

Interestingly, the report finds liberal social media platform BlueSky “plays a significant and predictive role in amplifying radical ideation.” BlueSky has seen its new user numbers surge since November’s election, according to the leftist publication The Guardian. Curiously, the “great X-odus” has been driven by liberals “seeking to escape Elon Musk’s X amid warnings from anti-hate speech campaign groups and the EU about misinformation and extremism on the platform,” The Guardian asserts. 

NCRI also found that users are increasingly tying the “memification” of Mangione with calls for political violence against Trump, Musk and others, “reflecting the growing cyber-social presence of assassination culture.” Mangione supporters have been using a meme of the Luigi character from the Super Mario Brothers video game/movie franchise as a symbol of political violence. Some of the threats echo the “Deny, Defend, Depose” mantra inscribed by Mangione on the shell casing that killed Brian Thompson, according to the report.  

Have you once heard about an EU campaign to shut down BlueSky as happens regularly when talking about X? Talk of extradition of BlueSky liberals? 

No? Well, there is a reason: liberals live in a bubble where such language and emotional outbursts are seen as normal. When an ordinary person "misgenders" a trans person, we hear stark warnings about "genocide." When a liberal says that Luigi Mangione had a good point it is seen as normal discourse. 

.@TomiLahren’s stunned reaction when Tay Tay says she felt joy at the execution of Brian Thompson pic.twitter.com/U0Hots51Ja

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2024

How many US Senators rushed to the TV cameras to solemnly intone, "I don't approve of violence, but..." after Mangione killed Brian Thompson? Can you imagine a conservative politician saying something like that if somebody killed Bernie Sanders? 

Speaking of Sanders, how much time was spent on self-reflection after a Bernie Sanders supporter tried to kill Republican legislators as they practiced for the Congressional baseball game, almost killing Steve Scalise? 

More liberals than not will tell you that they disapprove of political violence, but a majority of them will tell you that it is at least "somewhat justified." 

Vancouver, Canada — A pregnant woman in a Tesla was seriously injured on March 30 when a large rock was thrown at the vehicle, which smashed through the driver’s shield and hit her.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who might have footage taken on Nanaimo Street, between… pic.twitter.com/gTw55GT7rF

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 6, 2025

People who will spend endless hours explaining that literal murderers and rapists have a right to stay in the United States after entering illegally will turn around and contribute to defense funds for people who shoot anyone they dislike and applaud students who assault Jews who support Israel. 

🚨🚨DEMOCRATS HATE AMERICA🚨🚨Democrats IN THEIR OWN WORDS INCITING VIOLENCE! Pelosi calls for uprisings all over the country! DEMS SAY THERE NEEDS TO BE UNREST IN THE STREETS. DEMOCRAT MAYORS HAVE MANY MURDERS AND THEY DONT WANT HELP#DemocratsAreDestroyingAmerica pic.twitter.com/XinQ82cd5b

— 5DME81 (@5dme81) July 16, 2024

How many Hamas flags do you see at liberal protests? Raised fists?  Signs calling for the murder of Trump and Musk?

They are everywhere, and yet Democrat politicians and liberal commentators on TV encourage people to attend and then point to such protests as proof that America disapproves of Trump and Musk. Liberal donors fund these protests as Democrats line up to have photos taken with them. 

As the Biden administration had the FBI investigate parents who attended school board meetings and sent FBI agents into Catholic Churches hunting for "domestic terrorists," we all see domestic terrorism flourishing on the left and celebrated by leftist politicians. 

Mao's cultural revolution has become a model for the left, and these people look back on the French Revolution with longing. 

As the Jacobins chanted "off with their heads," many liberals were disappointed that it didn't become a reality last July in Butler.