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Steve Benen, a former blogger for the Washington Monthly and current producer and contributor to “The Rachel Maddow Show,” thinks the Mar-a-Largo would-be assassin was justified in wanting to take a shot at former president Donald Trump.
Or,inBenen’swords,“theallegedwould-beshooter.”BeneniscomplainingthatDonaldTrumpisblamingDemocratsforusingviolentrhetoricthatmotivatedRouthtotrytokilltheformerpresident.
ButRouthisright,claimsBenen.Trumpis,indeed,a“threattodemocracy.”
Firstofall,ittakesaspecialkindofmoralblindnesstoexcuseawould-bepresidentialassassin.Beyondthat,Benenemploysexactlythesameargumentsusedbytherighttopushbackagainsttheleftwhentheyblameconservativesforschoolshootingsoranyotherviolence.
First,theinvestigationintotheallegedwould-beshooterisjustbeginning.Theideathattheformerpresidentcanspeaktothesuspect’smotivations,indetail,isdifficulttotakeseriously.Giventhepreliminaryevidence,RyanWesleyRouth’spoliticswere,toputitmildly,idiosyncratic,supportingRepublican,Democra
