As Election Day Looms Dems Won’t Condemn Violent Rhetoric – To Their Peril

With less than two weeks before critical elections across the country, Democrats have tough questions to grapple with about their messaging and whether they can navigate the growing movement in their party that is embracing or downplaying political violence.

Experts believe that the Dems risk backlash at the polls over failure to condemn violent rhetoric among their supporters. Attorney and political commentator Kaitlin Puccio had this to say to Fox News.

“We do hear a lot of just the Democrats are against Trump, but we don’t hear a lot of what they’re actually for, which is problematic. And it kind of seems to me like they don’t really have a cohesive message,” Puccio, adjunct professor at Fordham Law and the director of the Art and Bioethics Initiative of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

Puccio said the ‘No Kings’ protests last week, where several examples of promoting violence went viral on social media, show a “fracture” in the Democratic Party that mainstream elected officials will have to contend with. 

Additionally, messaging at those rallies lacked substance, Puccio explained.

“It’s mostly, ‘We are against Trump.’ OK, but, specifically, what are you against? What is the specific policy that you are against?” Puccio said. “‘No Kings’: great. But we don’t have a king. We all know that. We’re not supposed to take this phrase literally, but what about the policies that are in place right now do you think are authoritarian? And what do you want instead? So, we’re hearing a lot of slogans and phrases and kind of catchphrases. And really that leaves the message without substance.”

Questions about Democrats’ support for political violence have been front and center in recent weeks after Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones was outed for past texts fantasizing about killing a Republican colleague and wishing death on that colleague’s children.

“I don’t think that it’s lost on voters that there are these horrible texts that came out recently from Jay Jones. And the strange thing is that there are very few people who are condemning these texts,” Puccio said, noting that prominent Democrats, particularly in Virginia, have refused to call on Jones to drop out of the race.

“But I think the reason for that is that the party of tolerance, right, the Democrats, is actually, it’s become a very intolerant party,” Puccio added. 

“So, if you have people condemning these texts, this sort of violent political rhetoric and things like that, they don’t want to be alienated by their own party. Look at what they’ve done or tried to do to John Fetterman. When he tries to think for himself instead of having the party tell him what to think, they ostracize him. I think that is kind of the reason that we’re in this weird place with our leaders, because everyone is kind of being quiet.”

In addition to Jones, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has faced scrutiny over advocating political violence in the past and a tattoo that resembles a Nazi Germany symbol.

Meanwhile, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism over a resurfaced video of him claiming to be the victim of anti-Muslim discrimination in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

While Democrats are expected to perform strongly in next year’s midterms, given that, historically, the party not in power does well in those elections, Republicans have been closing the gap in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections being held in early November, which could send a signal that Democrats aren’t in as strong of a position as many experts think.

Puccio said today’s Democratic Party is “unrecognizable,” which will hopefully push leaders to come out forcefully and take back control.