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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

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Right-wing media use Trump shooting to decry supposedly “out of control” Democratic rhetoric and urge Biden to pardon Trump

Right-wing personalities are asking the media and Democrats to “dial it back” despite their own history of stoking the flames toward liberals

Written by Gideon Taaffe

Research contributions from Payton Armstrong, Jack Winstanley & Sage Hodil

Published

After former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally, right-wing media have claimed that Democrats and others should tone down their supposedly inflaming rhetoric and President Joe Biden should pardon Trump. Meanwhile, right-wing media have repeatedly used overheated rhetoric when discussing Democrats, framing the 2024 election as a “political war” and “the end of the republic” if Biden wins. 

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  • Right-wing media demand Democrats and the media use less harsh language when discussing Trump

    • On Newsmax, contributor Michael Grimm stated that “the rhetoric has been out of control” around Trump and appealed to media outlets to “dial it back and start bringing a little civility.” He also commented that “the left doesn't think there’s any rules” to talking about Trump and that Biden “can call him Hitler” and say “he’s a danger to our entire way of life and democracy.” [Newsmax, Wake Up America Weekend, 7/14/24]
    • On Hannity, Fox News contributor Joe Concha said he hoped that “Democrats change their rhetoric” around Trump. Concha pointed specifically to Biden’s “bull’s-eye” comment, which was made on a private donor call when Biden said his campaign needs to focus on Trump rather than his performance at the debate. [Fox News, Hannity, 7/14/24; NBC, 7/14/24]
    • Fox News prime-time host Sean Hannity castigated the media for pointing out Trump’s actions and statements and saying they show he’s a threat to democracy, claiming, “This insane political demonization has to stop. Democrats, the state-run media mob, they need to start being honest.” He continued, “Donald Trump is not putting democracy in peril. He is not trying to be a dictator for life.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/14/24]
    • Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade urged the media to stop making the stakes of the next election “cataclysmic” and telling the public Trump wants to “eradicate the Constitution.” Co-host Ainsley Earhardt added, “Democrats have said some -- there’s been so much vitriol on both sides.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 7/15/24]
    • Fox News anchor Bret Baier said on Fox News Sunday that “everybody would like to see the tone and the heat drop down a bit on both sides.” According to Baier, “Republicans here will point to the constant barrage of the threat to democracy and linking former President Trump with Hitler specifically and a worry that he’s going to become a dictator, and he has to be stopped, and those kind of words.” [Fox News, Fox News Sunday, 7/14/24]

  • Right-wing media suggest Biden pardon Trump in an attempt to unify the country

    • Fox’s Kayleigh McEnany suggested that Biden “be magnanimous” and pardon Trump instead of just addressing the nation following the shooting. Andy McCarthy described the act of directing the Department of Justice to “dismiss the case against Trump or pardon him” as a “cost-free exercise” for Biden. [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 7/15/24]
    • Fox News contributor and OutKick founder Clay Travis stated that if Biden “had any decency or a scintilla of respect for justice” he “would pardon Trump of all federal crimes.” Travis further declared that “a pardon would also be an important message to send to deranged leftists that Trump isn’t actually Hitler and that people who disagree with you politically aren’t going to actually destroy democracy.” [Twitter/X, 7/14/24, 7/14/24] 
    • Fox News host Trey Gowdy claimed that pardoning both Trump and Biden’s son Hunter would “unify the country.” Gowdy went on to say that Biden “mentioned the word unity more in his inaugural address than any president except one” and asked, “What would be more unifying than actually pardoning your political rival?” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 7/15/24] 
    • Fox News contributor Sean Duffy stated that if Biden had pardoned Trump when he spoke after the assassination attempt, “he would have garnered a lot of support from the American people.” Duffy also criticized Biden’s response to the assassination attempt as “tone-deafness” and lacking “compassion.” [Fox Business, Fox Business' special coverage of the Republican National Convention, 7/15/24]

  • Right-wing media have framed the 2024 election as a war or revolution

    • Two days after the Trump rally shooting, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones attacked “globalists,” saying, “These people are beyond evil. They're cancer, and they're going to have to be cut out.” Jones also said, “I wouldn't want to be any of these globalists, senators or people, when this goes down.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 7/15/24]
    • Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts recently said on the War Room podcast, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution.” He added that the so-called revolution “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 7/2/24]
    • Days ahead of his scheduled imprisonment, podcaster and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon declared that the country is in a “political war.” He then told his audience: “If you continue to fight for your republic, we will be victorious.” [Real America's Voice, War Room, 6/27/24]
    • Bannon touted Project 2025 and claimed we're going to have “teams” that will “go after the criminals and the traitors in the deep state.” [Real America's Voice, War Room, 6/17/24]
    • While speaking at Turning Point USA's The People’s Convention, Bannon said, “It's very simple, victory or death.” Bannon added, “Are you prepared to fight? Are you prepared to give it all? Are you prepared to leave it all on the battlefield?” [Rumble livestream of Turning Point USA’s The People’s Convention, 6/15/24] 
    • Fox’s Laura Ingraham warned that it will be “the end of our republic” if Biden is reelected. Ingraham fearmongered about migrants voting in elections and then said, “If Biden or Harris is in charge for four more years, the far left will be closer than ever to their ultimate fantasy, the end of our republic.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 6/17/24]