One year into President Donald Trump‘s second term, the political temperature around the country is at an all-time high. This is hardly surprising given our sustained and intense polarization. The Democratic Party is still reeling from its November 2024 loss. But what it offered, a substitute candidate who entered the scene at the eleventh hour, had little appeal. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is far more mentally competent than was the diminished Joe Biden. However, she represented something average Americans reject: extremism.
There is much to say about the wrong behavior that both parties have displayed in recent years. And one action or incident does not excuse another, as much as blind partisans on both sides of the aisle would like that to be true. But when looking at both parties collectively, it’s clear that leftists prize mob behavior far more than those on the Right. We have seen this with the Black Lives Matter riots, Hamas-supporting protests and intimidation on college campuses, celebrating near-assassination attempts, and now, protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Making politics physical is a feature, not a bug, of the leftist playbook. Somehow, clearly pointing this out is akin to excusing what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, and glossing over the bad actors who exist on the Right. But those who are honest about what’s in front of us can call out all the bad, while also admitting the Left has a problem.
When ICE protesters stormed into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday, few outside observers were surprised. It’s not as though anyone wants to see this kind of disturbance, but at this point, we’re far more accustomed to it than we should be. The protesters entered a house of worship, targeting that one because Pastor David Easterwood is also the director of an ICE field office. There is no indication Easterwood has done anything wrong in his position. But that doesn’t matter to seething leftist activists drunk on delusional revenge. And even if Easterwood had acted wrongly in his job, storming the church is still not the answer. The protesters harassed parishioners, whom they labeled as guilty because of location, skin color, or assumed economic status. In the video, people were rightly horrified. And children are seen and heard crying.
On X, I posted the following: “Do you want to know why people voted for Trump? Because the alternative was a party filled with those who either join a mob that storms a church or justifies their actions afterward. You don’t have to like it, but this isn’t complicated.”
Unsurprisingly, leftists and their allies responded with rage that I would dare say something like this. In their minds, the Republican Party is more guilty than they are of social unrest, extremism, and lawlessness. Furthermore, they can’t comprehend why anyone would choose Trump over Harris, Biden, or Clinton. They willfully fail to understand that these voters don’t want Progressives to have more power. They reject the very idea that an untold number of Americans dislike the policies and direction of the left so much so that they’re willing to vote for Trump just to stop or at least slow down the motion. And what we’ve seen in Minnesota is a great example of why Trump is enjoying a second term.
Illegal immigration is a problem that has been festering for too long. Enforcing our laws and arresting illegal immigrants is not wrong. That is addressing lawlessness. And in many cases, the response from leftists, since before and after Renee Good was killed on Jan. 7, is extremism. Storming into a church is extremism. And yet, these same people are confused that their right-leaning counterparts might even now feel better that they chose Trump on Election Day.
The desire for law and order is a strong one. It is powerful enough to spur those who don’t particularly like Trump as a person to support him with a vote. No, it doesn’t excuse any flouting of the law done by this administration or its acolytes. It doesn’t mean the same people support the bad apples who participated in or still excuse Jan. 6.
If leftists don’t grasp why Trump still won despite all his history, it’s more their refusal to accept reality than their being a lack of sufficient evidence. The Right must recognize areas of improvement, which are many, and work to rebuild. The Left must do the same if it wishes to garner more support in the future from non-extremist Americans.
As of right now, there is a conspicuous lack of concern about what the Democratic Party, especially its large progressive wing, has become. Everything is so focused on Trump as the impetus behind every problem. And because leftists see him as the main cause, they believe anything done to push back against him and what he represents is not only acceptable, but a moral good. Only it’s not. And Americans quietly recognize that. One does not need to be a supporter of Trump to see what is really happening.
THE CAUSE OF LIFE CONTINUES AFTER ROE
On Sunday, a rage mob descended on a church filled with passive congregants enjoying a regular service. The sheer audacity of the angry crowd forcefully engaging in a lopsided contest to prove rightness was always going to rub people the wrong way. Leftists may see it and think, “Trump made us do this!” Meanwhile, far more watch events like that unfold and admit they’re glad a Harris-Walz administration never saw the light of day.
