Situational Outrage: How Democrats Normalize Political Violence
Two recent House votes reveal a troubling trend about the current stance of one of America’s major political parties.
In June, following the assassination of Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, the House acted swiftly and unanimously to condemn political violence. The vote was clear and bipartisan, with every member present indicating that killing a public official is beyond partisan bounds.
Weeks later, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a resolution to condemn his murder and reject political violence split the House.
Leadership urged support, but many Democrats voted no, abstained, or stayed away. Progressive leaders used the moment to disparage Kirk’s life and work. The split was so sharp that House conservatives carried the measure to the finish line.
That contrast is not a quirk. It is the essence of “situational outrage,” a moral double standard that condemns violence when it strikes their side but excuses, rationalizes, or even cheers violence when the victim is conservative. When condemnation depends on ideology, we stop being a society guided by principle and become a mob driven by narrative.
This episode underscored how much influence the far-left wing now wields over the Democrat party. Party leadership, including Hakeem Jeffries, initially supported the resolution condemning Kirk’s murder. Yet after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denounced it on the House floor, most Democrats followed her lead instead of Jeffries’s.
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Screen shot from CNN video, via YouTube
This should alarm Americans. The Democrats once prided themselves on being the party of moderation and civil rights. Today, they are led by demagogues whose guiding principle is not fairness or consistency but raw ideology. If a victim does not advance their agenda, their life and memory are expendable.
AOC’s rise from backbench radical to de facto caucus leader shows how far left the party has lurched in just a few years. Once a noisy minority, the “Squad” and its allies now dominate the caucus. That Democratic leaders could not enforce unity on something as basic as rejecting political violence reveals who really calls the shots.
Democrat’s leftward trajectory isn’t slowing down. Socialist AOC is considering a run for president in 2028, while fellow socialist Zohram Mamdami already has a 20-point © American Thinker
