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Democrats are being warned about incendiary rhetoric against former President Trump, with one columnist arguing that Americans could become de-sensitized to political violence.
Columnist and author David Marcus explained the alarming difference in how Americans reacted to the first versus the second assassination attempt on the former president and the impact of polarized rhetoric during “Fox & Friends.”
“This time, nobody changed the TV channel. Nobody talked about it. It was palpable,” Marcus told Steve Doocy on Wednesday. “It was like nothing happened, and that was scary because when we get desensitized to these things, it can get really ugly, really fast.”
Marcus penned an op-ed this week, highlighting the fact that “people stopped in their tracks” after the first attempt on Trump’s life, but when news of the second one broke, some bystanders responded with, “Are you surprised?”
“None of the networks cut away from the action for news coverage, my phone wasn’t blowing up with notifications, and my guess is that 90% of the people down on the floor of the casino, or in the sportsbook, had no idea anything had even happened,” he wrote.
Video“We all know that if such an attempt had been made on Vice President Kamala Harris’ life, the games would not only have been cut away for the news, they’d likely have been suspended. But this is about more than media bias, it’s about social callousness,” he continued.
This comes as many high-level Democrats have come under fire for branding Trump as a “threat to democracy.”
Fox News’ Peter Doocy had a terse exchange with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday when he pressed her and others in the Democratic Party who have chosen to keep calling the former president a “threat” even after a second attempt on his life over the weekend.
“How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president, and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than threat?” Doocy asked.
“I actually completely disagree with the premise of your question. The question that you’re asking,” Jean-Pierre shot back. “It is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you’re asking it because American people are watching.”
Meanwhile, Republican critics have been quick to fire back at their Democratic counterparts after it was revealed that reported bomb threats against schools in Springfield, Ohio, had originated overseas and were indeed “hoaxes.”
Democrats previously blamed Republicans’ rhetoric surrounding the Haitian migrant crisis in the town for what officials thought was a heightened security situation.
Video“Thirty-three threats; Thirty-three hoaxes,” Gov. Mike DeWine announced during a press conference. “I want to make that very, very clear. None of these had any validity at all.”
“We have people unfortunately overseas who are taking these actions,” he added. “Some of them are coming from one particular country.” He refused to clarify which country the threats were coming from.
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Marcus argued that Democrats, including Harris, who were critical of Republicans shining light on how the migrant surge has impacted the local community owe the American people an apology for jumping to conclusions.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says that all of the bomb threats in Springfield, OH have been “hoaxes” (Getty Images)
“This whole thing is unconscionable,” Marcus said. “We now know that the bomb threats to the schools in Springfield, Ohio, were foreign hoaxes… We don’t know from what country because Governor DeWine won’t tell us, but these are most likely information operations meant to sow division. If so, well done.”
“The Democrats and their allies in the media are pushing this,” he continued. “It’s bad that Trump and Vance are being absurdly blamed for Trump’s own assassination. It’s bad that the Democrats are very likely pushing an information operation, but the worst part of this is that the good people of Springfield, Ohio, who I just spent several days with, are being smeared as racist MAGA monsters who want to blow up schools.”
“That is the clear implication and it is a damnable lie. These people deserve an apology from the media, and they deserve an apology from Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Bailee Hill is an associate editor with Fox News Digital. Story ideas can be sent to bailee.hill@fox.com
