There are many excuses MAGA Republicans use for choosing violence when they lose an argument, revealing their ignorance and viciousness. So often, it turns to gun violence or the threat thereof. It’s easier for some people to frighten or brutalize someone they see as an enemy than it is to debate them.
I wanted to get some opinions on why they are the way they are so I just asked Google to see what kind of ideas were out there. It took me to Quora where there were plenty of thoughts I agreed with.
For example, we all know bullies will try to hide their own weaknesses, which might include their lack of knowledge (climate change), reasoning skills, (banning books makes them more popular), and emotional intelligence (not knowing that 10-year-olds aren’t fit to be mothers). Sometimes it just comes down to fear.
They probably don’t believe that common sense and dialogue should be the primary methods of solving conflict. They might never have learned to control their primal, childish instincts, so they turn to violence whenever they feel like they can’t win any other way.
Of course, we can’t forget that ego also plays a large role in all this (Donald Trump).
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash
Their inhibitions are diminished by intoxicating ideas like religious beliefs that make them feel superior to those who don’t fall in line with their judgments (the U.S. is strictly a White Christian nation).
While this has been going on for decades, it seems to have gotten darker since Trump started talking about running for president around 2015, when some of his rallies ended in fistfights and assault charges. He spoke of violence as something positive in his 2016 campaign and told his minions to “knock the crap” out of protestors. And remember how the neo-Nazis were emboldened in 2017 to march on Charlottesville?
Then came January 6, 2021, when they staged a deadly coup that failed. They promised us that the insurrection was only the beginning, and they’re now trying to kill FBI agents and employees of other government departments while threatening civil war. WTF?!
Trump’s style and message still ring true for his MAGA cult, causing a rise in the use of violent language and imagery in Republican political campaigns for this year’s midterm elections.
They think they’re hot shit now, dressing up in silly paramilitary costumes and waving their weapons around like Rambo. If they think they’re going to take on the real U.S. military they will definitely get the chance to die like real soldiers.
