Attorney General William Barr blamed the deepening partisan divide within the public on the political Left, saying that many have wandered from “classical liberal values” and instead are focusing their attention on attacking the country’s founding institutions.
“I have the perspective of having been attorney general 30 years ago and now. I thought things were partisan and tough 30 years ago — nothing compared to today,” Barr said during a conversation with conservative radio and television host Mark Levin that aired Sunday evening. “In the old days, you could have friends across the aisle. Politics was part of your life, but it wasn’t all-consuming. It wasn’t everything. You could have communications and so forth with others. But it’s now become all-consuming for many people.”
Several studies commissioned in recent months show a widening political divide in the United States, with people expressing deepening disagreements on a bevy of hot-button issues ranging from coronavirus lockdowns to gender issues and police-community relations.
Separately, a recent survey from the Pew Research Center found more people than ever are uncomfortable sharing their political beliefs or voting records openly, a trend more prevalent among conservatives.
Barr attributed the intensity in polarization to what he described as intolerance on the political Left and a disrespect of the so-called marketplace of ideas.
“What’s happened is that the left wing has really withdrawn and pulled away from the umbrella of classical liberal values that have undergirded our society since our founding,” he said. “Nowadays, you have — I think the Left has essentially withdrawn from this model and really represents … [a] revolutionary party that believes in tearing down the system.”
Many liberals, according to Barr, believe that “what’s wrong with America today all has to do with the institutions we have and we have to tear them down.”
“They are interested in complete political victory. They’re not interested in compromise. They’re not interested in dialectic exchange of views,” Barr said. “They are interested in total victory, and that’s — it’s a secular religion. It’s a substitute for religion. They view their political opponents … as evil because we stand in the way of their progressive utopia that they’re trying to reach.”
Since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd and other recent instances of minorities dying during interactions with police, calls for sweeping police reform and racial justice have reverberated across the nation.
Some social justice activists and Democratic politicians have insisted that the U.S. system of policing is so irreparably rigged against minorities that the entire structure must be disbanded and replaced with something more equitable.
“If this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down the system and replace it. All right? And I could be speaking figuratively. I could be speaking literally,” the leader of the Greater New York Black Lives Matter chapter said during an interview on Fox News earlier this summer. “It’s a matter of interpretation.”
President Trump and congressional Republicans have echoed Barr’s reaction to calls to defund or disband law enforcement, saying Black Lives Matter is a “Marxist” political organization with a “hateful message.”
“This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the horrible BLM chant, ‘Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon,’” Trump tweeted last month. “Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!”
Democrats have pointed to Trump’s negative comments about Black Lives Matter as evidence of alleged racism and have attempted to separate peaceful protests for racial equality from rioting and other violent anti-government demonstrations that have taken place in places like Portland and Seattle.
“Federal courts are under attack. Since when is it okay to try to burn down a federal court?” Barr said during a recent hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. “If someone went down the street to the Prettyman Court here, that beautiful courthouse we have right at the bottom of the hill, and started breaking windows and firing industrial-grade fireworks in to start a fire, throw kerosene balloons in and start fires in the court, is that okay? Is that okay now? No, the U.S. marshals have a duty to stop that and defend the courthouse, and that’s what we are doing in Portland. We are at the courthouse defending the courthouse. We’re not out looking for trouble.”
