WASHINGTON, D.C. Researchers said political violence has exploded in the US over the past two decades. Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, there are calls for violent rhetoric to tone down. Can this problem get fixed? Research shows it won’t be easy, but it can be done.
The assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist, has sent shockwaves across the nation. It now has members reevaluating their own safety.
“We’re in a deliberate review process right now to determine what measures are appropriate,” said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R- LA).
The president was asked if he is concerned for his own safety: “not really,” the President replied. “I’m really concerned for our country. We have a great country. We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we’re going to get that problem solved. I’m only concerned for the country.”
The President has been the target of assassination attempts himself but even before the shooting suspect was arrested, the President placed blame on the radical left.
“Reducing the rhetoric starts at the top,” said Dr. Todd Belt, professor and director of political management at George Washington University. Dr. Belt said political violence has exploded within the past two decades in the US.
“In order to reduce political violence, you really have to understand what causes it and it’s not just social media or hyper partisanship that gives rise to the violence,” said Dr. Belt. “That creates the conditions from where the violence can come from and you need some ignition or a particular spark to that for an individual where they feel aggrieved for the need to strike out. The real thing to do is remove some of those conditions and there’s been a lot of political science work trying to find out how can we remove those barriers; how can we reduce this polarization? Some of those things include people at the top with members of congress participating in things like CODELs which are congressional trips to other countries. Once they start talking to real people, they can introduce legislation together. We’ve also seen things where people put things in a room and they start to talk about a conversation originally about their values and what they hold dear to them. That helps people find a common ground.”
