What do Republicans really want? Civility or Civil War?

My colleague, state Senator Terry Johnson, recently wrote an opinion column titled A Call for True Civility in which he blamed the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on the Democrats. He cited my reposted statement from the Biden-Harris campaign as an example of the “left” supposedly inciting violence. This is ridiculous and insulting. Johnson wrote, “The reckless comparison of Trump to Hitler became a leftist mantra far too easily.”

But what he didn’t mention is that it was Donald Trump’s own Vice Presidential pick, JD Vance, who called Trump “America’s Hitler.” Johnson claimed that President Biden’s rhetoric “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” But what he doesn’t say is that the almost assassin, Thomas Crooks, was a registered Republican. Johnson also conveniently failed to mention that there are well-documented cases of him and his caucus calling for violence.

The most immediate example occurred on July 22 when a Republican state senator called for a civil war at a Vance rally. “If we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country,” said the senator with huge cheers from the crowd. But this type of violent language is not new or even surprising coming from the Ohio Senate Republican Caucus. 

A quick scroll through the Republican's sham “news” website, On The Record, shows mountains of fearmongering and violent rhetoric. On May 31, in an article titled House Democrats are Lying to You, the first line reads, “Ohio’s House Democrats are lying to you. Don’t be shocked – it’s what Democrats do.” On April 26, in an article written by none other than Johnson himself, Biden vs. Democracy, Johnson blames Democrats for “destroying democracy” and “the crime pandemic,” despite violent crimes being down 30% since Trump was president. Another article written by Johnson, The Left’s New Scheme to Overturn the Second Amendment by Stealth, claims that “the woke left” is trying to steal all of your guns, and you should be scared.

The most glaring omission from Senator Johnson’s op-ed is the lack of acknowledgment of the rhetoric from his own party’s Presidential nominee, convicted felon Donald Trump! On January 6, Trump said that he was “right there with [the insurrectionists]” as they built gallows to kill Vice President Mike Pence. 

Where were the calls for civility then? Where were the calls for civility when Trump made fun of Representative Nancy Pelosi and her husband when he got attacked by a hammer? Where were the calls speaking out against Trump saying, “If you vote for me, you will never have to vote again” as a threat to democracy?

Senator Johnson wrote that “words matter,” so why has there been radio silence from Republican elected officials on all levels regarding their very explicit calls for violence and ending democracy? Because the Republican party doesn’t want unity; they want division. Saying they want civility and unity now is a sloppy attempt to shift the blame to Democrats. Not surprisingly, words have meaning and consequences. Republicans being held accountable for what their party is spewing is not the fault of Democrats.

Democrats acknowledge there is a political rhetoric problem in America. Senator Johnson is just on the wrong side of it.