The attack on Republican congressmen that occurred in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday quickly drew attention to the American Left’s escalating anti-Republican rhetoric, which demonizes and dehumanizes conservatives and their beliefs.

The shooter, identified as James T. Hodgkinson, appears to be a far-left activist who had volunteered on Democratic campaigns and held a deep disdain for President Donald Trump.

“I don’t have the evidence of why the shooter did what he did, but I’ll tell you this: My colleagues, Republicans who have done town halls, have been approached and rushed by people in the crowd and shaken up,” said Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) to Fox News after the incident. “Members of Congress have been followed after town halls and run off the road.”

Duffy, who was present during the attack, said the vitriol directed at Republicans has encouraged violence.

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“We are receiving death threats now, our families receive threats, and you see now how some in the media will laugh off violence towards elected officials,” Duffy said. “The natural consequences of this escalation become greater violence.”

Divisive rhetoric from Democrats, which has escalated to unprecedented levels of hysteria since Donald Trump won the election, routinely depicts Republicans and conservatives as dangerous, bigoted, racist and evil.

And while liberals have charged — with little evidence — that Trump’s coarse language on the campaign trail has incited violence, even Trump’s most controversial comments pale in comparison to the sort of hyperbole that liberals regularly employ to describe Republicans and their policies.

Claiming Republican Policies Kill
If the rhetoric of high profile Democrats is to be believed, GOP policies are the biggest killers of Americans next to heart disease, obesity, and cancer.

In May, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said an Obamacare reform bill Republicans have advanced would kill people.

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“It is not an overstatement to say that some children will die because of this,” de Blasio said.

De Blasio wasn’t alone in his dire warnings over Republican efforts to fix Obamacare.

“There’s no question that people will not only lose their health care, but many will lose their lives.”

“This will cost American lives if it ever becomes law! This will mean death, pain, and suffering,” said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

“They are threatening devastation in the lives of America’s families,” insisted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “This is deadly. This is deadly.”

“People are going to die if this bill that got passed yesterday ever became law. I’m going to lose a lot of folks. People are going to die!” claimed Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

“Thousands of Americans would die,” echoed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“There’s no question that people will not only lose their health care, but many will lose their lives,” claimed Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

“It’s essentially producing policies are gonna kill people. We’re essentially going to be killing Peter to make sure that Paul gets his tax cut,” claimed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

The liberal media have been just as hyperbolic on the supposedly lethal threat of GOP efforts to repair the nation’s health care system.

“Violence is what separates politics from war. It’s the point where hurt feelings become dead bodies, the point at which countries become ungovernable.”

“The GOP Is Trying to Kill You,” claimed a January headline in “In These Times” magazine.

“The ‘pro-life’ party has become the party of death: New research on why Republicans hate poor and sick people,” said Salon.

“The House Passed a Health Care Bill That Will Kill People” declared the left-wing organization Media Matters for America.

And that was just the health care bill. To hear the Democrats tell it, the GOP’s welfare policies are driven by a murderous hatred of the poor; its immigration policies, by a murderous hatred of Latinos; its religious freedom and privacy policies, by a murderous hatred of gay and transgendered people; and its support for law enforcement, by a murderous hatred of black Americans.

Off With His Head!
Figures on the Left have also explicitly celebrated depictions of violence against President Donald Trump and defended those portrayals.

Comedian Kathy Griffin caused widespread outrage and significant damage to her career when she posed with an image of her holding a fake, bloodied, severed Trump head.

Rapper Snoop Dogg released a music video in March in which he is shown shooting a clown-version of President Trump.

Also in March, actor Adam Pally, star of the television show about time-traveling, “Making History,” told TMZ that if he could go back in time, “I’d have to kill Trump.”

Only last week, the New York Public Theater faced intense criticism for a contemporary adaptation of Julius Caesar in which Caesar is depicted as a clear stand-in for Trump. (go to page 2 to continue reading)[lz_pagination]