OPINION:
For at least the past decade in American politics, the liberal playbook heading into an election year has been as follows: Organize and conspire with the legacy media to set the narrative, agitate and sow chaos among the American people through said narrative, and then weaponize empathy for political gain when an unfortunate incident results from the frenzy or ignore it completely if it cuts against them.
The narratives ebb and flow with the election year.
In 2016, it was claimed that President Trump was a Russian agent working with the Kremlin to undermine American democracy. In 2018, it was the Me Too movement and the contentious confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. In 2020, it was George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter dogma. In 2022, it was the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In 2024, democracy was once again on the ballot because of Mr. Trump. This year, it seems to be immigration enforcement.
In every instance, elected Democrats encourage protests and the chaos that ensues. During the first Trump administration, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts joined rioters outside the White House, even with a 7 p.m. curfew in place and a military presence on the ground.
“I’m here today because nothing changes if we don’t speak out,” she told The Washington Post in 2020. “It is not enough to stay comfortable in our homes and offices and say we stand in solidarity. It’s important that we get out on the front lines and call out racism everywhere.”
During the Floyd riots, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York posted on Instagram a guide to prepare for “safe protests,” including what to wear, what to bring and what to leave at home. Sen. Kamala Harris asked her supporters to donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which posted bail for rioters.
During the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, more than 900 law enforcement officers were injured, including 277 officers injured while defending the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, and 60 Secret Service officers injured while defending the White House, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee. More than 60,000 officers were assaulted that year, a 4,071% increase from 2019, and 48 ambush-style incidents were reported.
Roughly 17,000 rioters were arrested across the U.S. during the Black Lives Matter protests, yet only a small minority were ever prosecuted. The Justice Department brought federal charges against more than 300 people, but just 120 were convicted. At the state and local levels, the majority of cases were either eventually dismissed or dropped by prosecutors.
The message was clear: Political violence is OK as long as it’s on behalf of liberal values.
In collusion with the legacy media, the political left all but ignored the illegal protests outside Supreme Court justices’ homes after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The mainstream press barely covered the assassination attempt of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. The coverage of the two failed assassination attempts on Mr. Trump’s life during his 2024 presidential campaign was largely downplayed initially and then focused on Mr. Trump’s history of “violent rhetoric.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took glee in Tesla’s falling stock price because of CEO Elon Musk’s association with Mr. Trump. He walked back his comments only after the FBI issued a warning against a string of violent attacks on Tesla dealerships and cars across the country, rooted in the liberal Tesla Takedown movement.
NPR and NBC openly questioned whether the coordinated vandalism, arson and gunfire targeting Tesla vehicles and showrooms amounted to “domestic terrorism.” CBS and ABC did their best to avoid reporting on the matter altogether, relegating the story to a brief mention devoid of any context.
Last year, when Mr. Trump sent the National Guard into the District of Columbia on a “crime-fighting” and “beautification” mission, it was met with widespread criticism from liberals. Democratic leaders described the move as “political theater” and a “hostile takeover” intended to showcase presidential power. Activists organized “walkouts” and protests against what they termed an “authoritarian consolidation of power” and the “occupation” of the city.
Then, in November, when two National Guard members were ambushed near the White House, with one dying from her injuries and the other critically wounded, the shootings merited a day’s worth of coverage, far short of the aforementioned outrage.
Let’s now turn to Minnesota.
For three weeks, protests of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been stoked by Mr. Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who have likened federal agents carrying out federal immigration law to the “Gestapo.”
Nationwide, liberal politicians have been encouraging protesters to film, agitate and track ICE officers, creating scenes of chaos. When tragedy ultimately befell two civilians engaging in such activity, the left pounced, blaming the Trump administration and federal law enforcement.
“[ICE] is an unaccountable, untrained, lawless organization that is terrorizing American citizens, and we need them off the streets immediately,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “This is about a basically Stasi-type force of secret police that wear masks, that are unidentifiable, that are unaccountable, that have leadership in the Trump administration blatantly lying about what’s going on.”
Encouraging more lawlessness and disorder is what the Democrats need to win the midterms. They will promise that, if elected, they will put out the fire they started.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at the Washington Times.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.