The fact-free reaction from President Trump and his right-wing circle to the assassination of former Trump aide Charles Kirk will only encourage further political violence, Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania (DJOP) said in a statement today.
Zipin, Chair of the state-wide political action committee, said that DJOP “unequivocally condemns the tragic attack against Charlie Kirk, as we condemn all political violence.” She stated:
“We have yet to learn the motivation of the killer. But Donald Trump and his MAGA team continue to demonize those who disagree with them politically. They incite hostility, rather than discouraging it as every other President has done.”
Zipin cited a comment by Trump’s son, Eric, on FOX News’ Sean Hannity program. Trump told Hannity he was “sick and tired of seeing the bullets — they are only going one way.”
“One way?,” Zipin asked. “We find it difficult to believe that Eric Trump is unaware that in Minnesota two Democratic legislators and their spouses were murdered. That in California former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked viciously. Or that in Harrisburg, PA. the Governor’s residence was firebombed while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside.
“Eric Trump’s rhetoric is deliberately misinformed,” Zipin said. “It has only one purpose: to create outrage in MAGA followers by tapping into their belief that they are under physical attack from the left, no matter how unsubstantiated their fear is. Sadly, this only encourages more violence.”
Zipin cited a post in the on-line journal The Preamble, by Alexis Cow, a presidential historian and a history columnist for The New York Times Book Review. Coe wrote:
“Political violence is not a tactic; it is a toxin. Troops in the streets don’t protect us from it, either; they suggest — falsely — that our cities have already fallen and only extreme measures can restore order. The true danger is complacency: assassinations and the partisan attacks that encourage them make violence seem like an acceptable part of civic life. And that’s what will kill the republic.”
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Founded in 2008, DJOP is a state-wide political action committee that supports progressive candidates and legislation and sponsors educational programs on contemporary issues. With board members throughout Pennsylvania, its efforts are driven by the traditional Jewish values of the pursuit of justice and the principle of “tikkun olam,” Hebrew for “repair of the world.”
DJOP board members are Sue Berman Kress, David Broida, David Ellowitch, William Epstein, Harvey Freedenberg, Brett Goldman, Dan Green, Andi Irwin, Mitch Kates, Adam Kessler, Dina Lichtman Smith, Rabbi Gregory Marx, Evan Myers, Josh Portney, Rabbi Joshua Runyan, Burt Siegel, Allison Siegelman, Tristen Walker, Howard Zipin and Jill Zipin.
