The media wall of silence around the destruction taking place in cities around the country this month is growing deafening. You occasionally hear a bit of coverage if a protester happens to be injured, but beyond that, it’s mostly crickets all the way down. An at least somewhat surprising example of this phenomenon popped up at the Associated Press yesterday. Curiously, the rather lengthy piece didn’t appear to focus on any single, relevant incident of either peaceful protesting or rioting, but instead tackled the question from the 10,000-foot level, accusing the Republicans of some sort of orchestrated smear campaign against liberals and the Black Lives Matter movement for pointing out that there are people being shot, windows being smashed, stores being looted and buildings being burned to the ground. Some of the colorful language in this article is truly inspirational… if you happen to be a Democrat. (Emphasis added)

With recent shootings that have killed children and dozens of others in cities with large Black populations like New York, Atlanta and Chicago, the GOP is trying to play offense, ominously. Ads like Trump’s and other Republican messaging insinuate that the rare looting and violence that marred largely peaceful social justice protests are spreading and foretell a wave of mayhem that they claim Democrats would abet with anti-police policies.

Trump emphasized that menacing theme at the White House Thursday, calling proponents of defunding the police “crazy.” Telling a visiting group of Hispanic Americans that many immigrants had fled dangerous countries, Trump added, “They know what happens when the police cannot protect the innocent, when the rule of law is destroyed.”

Democrats call the GOP drive an obvious diversion from issues they say voters care most about: the coronavirus pandemic that Trump has failed to control, the economic shutdown, recession-level unemployment, racial justice and health care.