President Donald Trump placed some of the blame for the Charlottesville violence on the “alt-left” Tuesday.
That outraged his many critics and motivated them to defend left-wing rioters.
Liberals and Democrats were quick to state that only one side — the alt-right — was to blame for this weekend’s chaos. But they went further than that statement in excusing and even celebrating antifa violence. (RELATED: Democrats, Media Figures Work To Mainstream Violent Antifa Protesters)
CNN’s Don Lemon said that what the leftists did was “messy” but ultimately well-intentioned because they were standing up against fascists. Similarly, another CNN commentator excused antifa violence because it was “standing up against hate.”
Liberals on Twitter, such as former Hillary Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon and CNN host Chris Cuomo, decided to go one step further and compare antifa to the brave Americans who stormed Normandy on D-Day.
How anti-free speech leftists who proudly fly the red flag and burn Old Glory are comparable to patriotic World War II veterans is beyond this author’s comprehension.
What was most surprising, however, was seeing prominent Republicans stand up for antifa.
Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney argued violent leftists were morally righteous. “No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes,” Romney tweeted Tuesday night.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took a similar tone in assigning “100% to blame” for the Charlottesville violence on white supremacists — which amounts to a total exculpation of antifa. Rubio also tweeted out a poorly-worded statement that may have explicitly endorsed left-wing violence.
“When entire movement built on anger & hatred towards people different than you,it justifies & ultimately leads to violence against them,” the senator stated in his ill-formed tweet.
Arizona Sen. John McCain — who fought and was tortured by communists in Vietnam — claimed that violent leftists are great Americans fighting against hate. “There’s no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so,” McCain tweeted.
Before Trump’s Tuesday comments, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie claimed during a Monday radio interview that “those who incite violence are committing an even more serious offense” than those who actually commit violence. He added that these alleged propagators of hate need to be “arrested and prosecuted and put behind bars.”
It is very odd that Republicans are so eager to absolve antifa of any blame for what occurred in Charlottesville, and to further praise them as anti-hate heroes.
It is true that the vast majority of Americans hate fascism, and they certainly don’t want anything to do with racism.
So at first glance, self-described “anti-fascists” may appear as a pretty noble group. Antifa’s new Republican sympathizers might think these guys only target white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
But that’s absolutely not the case. In fact, antifa targets plenty of Republicans and conservatives.
Moreover, they hate everything that Republicans cherish. Our system of government, the flag, the Constitution, patriotism, the military, the police, capitalism, gainful employment — you name it, they hate it. (RELATED: In Their Own Words: The Radical Political Goals Of ‘Anti-Fascists’)
There is no common ground between Republicans and antifa, especially when the leftists think the politicos are Nazis themselves.
It should come as no surprise that a group inspired by left-wing extremism has a very broad definition for who constitutes a fascist, and they’ve attacked many folks who are definitely not white nationalists.
Black bloc anarchists rioted in Washington, D.C. during the inauguration because they saw it as standing up against racism. Yet, the person they hurt the most was a Muslim immigrant who had his limo torched by the rampaging mob.
Prior to the inauguration, they tried to attack a party thrown for Trump supporters at the National Press Club and planned to deploy chemical agents to shut down the event. All for the noble cause of standing up against hate.
In February, antifa rioted at UC-Berkeley to prevent Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking. Many conservatives hate Milo for “normalizing” the alt-right, but it’s hard to claim that everyone who attended his planned event were white nationalists. Most, if not all, were probably normal Trump supporters.
But these possible attendees were beaten with poles and maced for the simple crime of wanting to hear a a “Nazi” talk. One of the victims of antifa violence wasn’t even an attendee of the cancelled event. A Syrian Muslim in a suit was passing by the riot when a leftist came up to him, said “You look like a Nazi,” and pepper sprayed him.
Why do antifa continue to attack Muslims?
This violence is similar, albeit not nearly as bad, as to how conservative commentator Ben Shapiro is treated when he appears on college campuses. Shapiro, who is Jewish and a very vocal critic of the alt-right, is often labelled a white supremacist and even a neo-Nazi for his conservative views.
Is it okay if antifa assaults him because someone claims he’s a Nazi?
Even everyday Republicans doing everyday Republican stuff have earned threats from antifa. In May, Portland, Ore., had to cancel its Rose Parade because participants from the local GOP were threatened with being dragged out of the event and beaten. (RELATED: Portland Parade Canceled After Activists Threaten To ‘Drag And Push’ Republicans)
The antifa’s reasoning for their threats was to show its “power” on the streets and show racism wasn’t tolerated. In other words, Republican is synonymous with racist to antifa.
And that probably means antifa would still like to drag and beat their new fans for the sin of voting for the GOP.
Republicans can make a point of condemning the alt-right without justifying the violence of antifa. It makes no sense to idolize a group that wants to cause harm to you for simply having conservative views. Or, as they would say, “Nazi” views.
In their endless pursuit of press approval, Republicans like Mitt Romney showed how ignorant they are of the threat of left-wing violence. By equating them to the heroes of D-Day or saying they just stand up to hate, these GOP leaders encourage these leftist thugs to continue to harass and attack their own supporters.
How stupid can you be?
The temporary approval from pundits who only have contempt for you is not worth the price of more rioting and more speech suppression.
If even The Atlantic can admit there is a violent Left beginning to arise, why can’t Marco Rubio?
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