What kind of presidential candidate would cause opponents to fear for their lives?
Nikki Haley has applied for Secret Service protection as the number of threats against her has soared, a campaign spokeswoman confirmed yesterday.
The threats come as Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on Haley, escalating vicious assaults on her character, her career, her origins, and her beliefs. Many of his assertions are lies.
In recent weeks, Haley has increased security at her events. Police have responded to at least two bogus reports at her home since December. In one, they showed their weapons when they arrived on the scene and told the three people inside to raise their hands. They discovered the call to be a hoax and the people inside to be Haley’s elderly parents (ages 87 and 90) and a caretaker.
America has witnessed a direct and alarming connection between Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and the increase in political violence and threats of such violence in America.
In 2016, the Capitol Police recorded fewer than 900 threats against members of Congress. In 2017, after Trump took office, that figure more than quadrupled, according to the Capitol Police. The numbers continued to rise every year of the Trump presidency, peaking at 9,700 in 2021. In 2022, the first full year of Biden’s term, the numbers declined to a still-high 7,500. (The 2023 data is not yet available.)
Intimidation, threats of violence, and actual violence have grown since Trump fueled lies and conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen. On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters. In October 2022, Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was gravely injured when an intruder entered their home and attacked him with a hammer.
Judges and prosecutors involved in Trump’s criminal trials have received death threats and been swatted. Several are now receiving Secret Service protection.
So today’s Office Hours question: What kind of presidential candidate — and his supporters — would cause political opponents and public servants to fear for their lives? And what can and should be done to prevent this?
