New York City government’s highest-ranking Republican on Monday called for politicians to be more “cognizant” of their rhetoric, especially on social media, following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
“I think politicians have to be cognizant that if they go a little too far, there will be many people who are looking to go further,” City Council Republican leader Joe B0relli said, in a phone interview with amNewYork Metro on Monday. “And we see a mob mentality every time we log on to any social media platform, where things spiral and people pile on. And I think that’s what leads to rhetoric that could turn into real harm.”
Borelli made a similar plea on Sunday during a City Hall news conference with Mayor Eric Adams and Rev. Al Sharpton, where he called for a cooling of inflamatory rhetoric. Borelli spoke to amNewYork Metro from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which he is attending as a delegate this week.
Borelli’s comments come after a gunman fired several shots at Trump during a Saturday rally in Butler, PA, which grazed his ear, killed one of his supporters and severely injured 2 others.
The suspected gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed during the incident by Trump’s Secret Service security detail. While Crooks’ motives remain unclear, law enforcement is reportedly investigating the attack as potential domestic terrorism.
When asked if Trump, who regularly makes inflammatory comments in person and on social media, should also tone down his own rhetoric, Borelli said it is incumbent upon everyone to do so.
He then went on to reference actions taken by those on the left, including political commentator Keith Obermann appearing to write on social media in March that he wished Trump would be assassinated (Olbermann denied that and clarified by saying he wished Trump would die in prison) and a 2017 video by comedian Kathy Griffin in which she held up a fake decapitated head made to look like Trump.
“It extends to every politician and media outlet out there,” Borelli said.
Trump has found himself in hot water countless times over his own rhetoric. That includes him saying in March that if he does not get re-elected in November it will be a “bloodbath” for the whole country — though he says he was specifically speaking about the auto industry —and describing migrants as “poisoning the blood of America.”
The former president has also used apocalyptic language to describe the country under Democratic President Biden.
Republican US Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) laid the blame for the shooting more squarely on Democrats, without mentioning Trump’s own rhetoric.
“Ever since President Trump came down the escalator nine years ago and announced his candidacy, he has been vilified, smeared and disparaged by his opposition who have seized every opportunity to destroy him personally, professionally and financially,” she said in a statement. “While we may disagree with each other on policy, we must be able to debate our ideas and policies on the House floor, in the media, and at the ballot box and never resort to political violence.”
