On November 14, local time, tens of thousands of Trump supporters held a march and rally in Washington, D.C., to protest the results of the presidential election under the call of multiple right-wing organizations that support Trump. At the same time, some organizations and groups opposed to Trump also participated in the demonstrations.
Although both parties said before the event that they would express their demands in a peaceful way, as night fell, the event evolved into violent conflict. A demonstrator was stabbed several times in a row, several policemen were injured, and at least 21 people were arrested. Stimulating images of violent clashes are circulating on the Internet. This result once again shows the sharp antagonism between the left and right forces in American society.
The forces on the left and right wings have strong violent tendencies
This march is the culmination of continuous protests and demonstrations since the US election. On that day, Washington gathered a number of well-known militant organizations, including the extreme right organizations “Proud Boys”, “Oath Keeper” and “Patriot Prayer” that support Trump. , “Women for America First” (Women for America First), etc. There are also left-wing social groups and organizations such as “Black Life is Fate” (BLM) and “Antifa” (Antifa) that oppose Trump.
The far-right organization “Pride Boys” was established in 2016 and has grown rapidly during this year’s election. Although the leaders of its organization have repeatedly stated that they do not advocate violent conflict, they must wear body armor and hold firearms whenever they appear in rallies in various places, and have repeatedly violent and bloody clashes with opponents, which is obviously inconsistent with their declaration. Similar groups include “Guardians of Oaths” and “Patriot Prayer”.
On the other hand, “anti-fascist” and other left-wing organizations, although they sound full of sense of justice, their violent activities are a bit more than that of right-wing organizations. “Anti-fascism” also means to oppose violence while practicing violence. The most recent example is that in a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, in late August, an “anti-fascist” member shot and killed a Trump supporter.
According to American media Axios, since May this year, the destructive activities of left-wing organizations have caused more than $1 billion in economic losses to the United States. 36 policemen have died and thousands of policemen have been injured.
Openly advocate the radicalization of political demands for illegal activities
American public opinion believes that these extremist organizations not only promote violence, but are also relying on their ever-expanding social influence, coercing high-level government officials, and trying to advance their unreasonable, illegal, and extreme political demands.
On the one hand, right-wing forces continue to organize rallies and protest against the government in an attempt to overturn the election results.
At the same time as the parade in Washington, DC on November 14, a large number of Trump supporters gathered outside the State House in Lansing, the capital of Michigan. The organizers of the event shouted to the state legislators: “You better stand on our side, otherwise you are ready to leave!” They also said that although the general election results in Michigan have shown Biden’s victory, the state legislature should insist. The 16 electors who supported Trump were selected to join the National Election Commission. The Michigan State Assembly stated that it was completely illegal to do so.
On the other hand, the goal of the left-wing forces is mainly on economic gains. After all, putting real money in your pockets is the tangible result.
Fox News reported that just after the U.S. media announced Biden’s victory, the co-founder of Black’s Life is Fate (BLM) contacted Biden and said, “If we African Americans hadn’t voted for you, the election result would have been It will be like this now.” Ask Biden to advance the African-American compensation bill. It is worth noting that some ultra-leftists have previously stated that the US government should provide all African Americans with a total of 14 trillion US dollars in compensation, which is about two-thirds of the US GDP in 2019.
High-level leaders of both parties and mainstream media contributed to the flames
Although the existence of extremist forces has its basis in public opinion, if you leave the high-level government and mainstream media to fuel the flames, it will never be where it is today.
In the presidential election debate held in September of this year, when asked about his attitude towards “white supremacy,” US President Trump took the opportunity to shout to the far-right organization “Proud Boys” and make them “stand by.” This remark was widely interpreted by the American media as Trump’s intention to accumulate his own civil power to deal with possible presidential campaign failure.
After the election results were released, Trump has repeatedly publicly expressed his appreciation for the right-wing forces that support him. On the day before the Washington parade, Trump also tweeted that this behavior was “heart-warming”; and on the morning of the parade day, when Trump drove past the rally site, he waved to supporters. On Biden’s side, he has always refused to respond to the incidents of smashing, looting, looting and burning by ultra-left organizations during the “Black people’s fate” campaign.
In addition, in the current social environment of left and right divisions, the major mainstream media in the United States have long been choosing sides. It is difficult to maintain objective neutrality and contribute to social differentiation.
Media such as CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post are obviously biased towards the Liberal Democrats, and they often justify the violence in the leftist protests. However, Fox News and other media tend to favor the conservative Republican Party and continue to amplify and criticize the violence in demonstrations such as “Black people’s fate is also fate” and promote right-wing views. The far-right conspiracy to kidnap the governor of Michigan in October this year was precisely because conservatives and right-wing media publicly promoted “white supremacy”, which inspired the rise of right-wing forces and the rise of local terrorism.
The American media “Salon” recently made a comment, saying that in order to cater to the audience, the American media has generally and selectively ignored information that is not conducive to its own. In addition, many commentators believe that the most critical role of the press should be to censor those in power. However, the current reality is that the news media “stand by themselves” and their mission has gradually deteriorated in order to serve the partisan struggle, and the public has undoubtedly become “The victim”. Under such circumstances, it is inevitable that the society will divide and tear further.
Left-wing forces, right-wing forces, high-level government officials, and mainstream media all talked about social issues eloquently and were filled with outrage. However, the situation of divided parties and standing in their respective teams has intensified, continuously intensifying the growth of violence by extremist forces. If this continues, the deepening and tearing gap in American society will become more difficult to heal.
