President Donald Trump got a tongue-lashing from the conservative Karl Rove on Wednesday, over his constant stream of social media provocations that have now escalated to death threats against members of Congress.
"We’re witnessing the rise of a new class of political performance artists," wrote Rove. "They want to be at the center of national attention, creating chaos and conflict, shocking sensibilities, and unleashing dark passions. The hard work of legislation, of addressing Americans’ real needs, is of little interest. Instead, they compete to see who can say the most outrageous and inflammatory things. Their goal is more posts, more views, and more reactions — positive or negative, it doesn’t matter."
This has happened in a number of spheres of the right, Rove wrote, including Nick Fuentes, the extremist "Groyper" founder who has praised Adolf Hitler and denied the Holocaust; and the now-resigning Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who suggested on social media "that satellites, possibly controlled by the Rothschilds, started California forest fires."
But it is Trump himself, Rove wrote, who remains the master of social media fire-starting.
"Given Donald Trump’s online domination, even generally sensible Democrats and Republicans have stopped being serious and started seeking more retweets and followers. Take the six Congressional Democrats, all veterans of the military or the CIA, who released a video last week encouraging active-duty service personnel to 'refuse illegal orders' from Mr. Trump," wrote Rove.
While it was provocative to do so without actually naming an illegal order from Trump, Rove argued, Trump took it up to 11 by calling the video "sedition" and "punishable by death."
"The lack of trust Americans have in our institutions may be in part a reaction to how blaring our political discourse is and how preoccupied it is with pointless matters," Rove concluded. "It’s likely to get louder and the topics more idiotic until someone shows a better way. That’s probably years off. Change will require a new wave of leaders with different values and sensibilities. But the sooner someone starts, the sooner we’ll be free of this. And voters will be grateful."
