‘There is Something Troubling the American Soul’: CNN’s Jake Tapper Delivers Impassioned Commentary Condemning the Nation’s ‘Era of Political Violence’
CNN’s Jake Tapper offered prayers for former President Donald Trump and challenged elected officials who have said since Saturday’s assassination attempt on him that there is no place for political violence in the country.
Tapper’s argument on Sunday’s edition of State of the Union was that violence has ramped up in recent years to the point that it is now almost normal.
A bullet whizzed by Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking him in the ear. Trump was treated and released quickly thereafter but one rally-goer was killed and others were injured when a man police identified as 20-year-old Matthew Thomas Crooks allegedly opened fire from a nearby rooftop. Crooks was killed by Secret Service sharpshooters.
There were immediate and bipartisan calls following the horrific incident to cool down the temperature in the country while Trump and President Joe Biden spoke together on a brief call.
One message from Biden and other elected officials was clear – there is no place in the country for political violence.
Tapper challenged such statements in a monologue to end Sunday’s show, lamenting numerous examples of violence that have taken place with an alarming frequency in recent years.
“I keep hearing from politicians this morning that political violence has no place in America,” Tapper began. “We are living in an era of political violence.”
Tapper continued:
Last night as you all know, horrifically, a shooter opened fire and tried to assassinate former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally. This was the closest call in terms of a major assassination attempt on a U.S. leader on that level in more than 40 years, since Ronald Reagan in 1981. We do not yet know the specific motivations behind this would be assassin sick, and twisted. Though they assuredly are. But sadly this is not the first time we’ve seen this kind of repugnant and un-American violence.
Tapper noted that in 2011, then-congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head while visiting with her constituents in Arizona, while six years later a gunman opened fire on House Republicans at a practice for the annual congressional baseball game in 2017. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was nearly killed in the shooting, Tapper noted.
He also reminded his viewers that one person was killed at the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville and that violence became common almost daily in cities throughout the country after the murder of George Floyd.
Months later, multiple people died on Jan. 6 during the violence at the U.S. Capitol.
The CNN anchor listed more examples of political violence before he called on Americans to unite and disagree with each other peacefully. He concluded:
There is something troubling the American soul right now. Too many Americans see those with whom they disagree as the enemy to be shunned, to be banned, to be ostracized, to be threatened with violence or even to have that violence carried out. As with so many prior acts of violence, we right now see too many awful responses out there to this hideous attack on former President Trump responses that are part of this trend that includes those who without evidence are blaming this act of violence on those with whom they have disagreements.
We are praying for former President Trump’s recovery today and praying for his family and for those victims of the attack and we urge in the strongest possible terms that this election and all our political differences must be determined by ballots and votes, not by bullets.
Watch above via CNN.
