Selective Outrage: The GOP’s Moral Collapse on Political Violence

A Democrat is threatened? Silence. A Republican is killed? Explosive outrage. The right isn’t fighting violence — they’re curating it.

On September 26, 2025, Arizona state Rep. John Gillette, a Republican, posted on X (formerly Twitter) in response to a video clip of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington and Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

In the video, Jayapal was discussing the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S. and the danger of mainstream politicians tolerating fascist rhetoric, especially within the GOP. She did not threaten violence, call for insurrection, or advocate any illegal action. Her words were clear, critical, and entirely within the realm of democratic political speech.

Gillette’s response?

“Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried, convicted and hanged... it will continue.”

Let that sink in.

A sitting Republican lawmaker publicly called for the execution of a sitting U.S. Congresswoman, a woman of color, for expressing her political opinion on authoritarianism. This, in a nation founded on opposing kings and authoritarianism.

Jayapal has faced harassment before. In 2022, a man was arrested outside her Seattle home with a gun, shouting racist threats. She’s received countless death threats over the years. But this was different. This time, the threat came from inside the house, from another elected official.

And the Republican Party?

They said nothing.

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The Party of Outrage, When Convenient

Contrast that silence with the murder of Charlie Kirk just two weeks earlier.

On September 10, Kirk, a right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed at an event at Utah Valley University. The suspect was arrested within 24 hours. Authorities are still investigating the motive.

The Republican response was instant and overwhelming.

Statements of outrage flooded conservative media. The Republican National Committee called the act “political terrorism.” Rep. Ken Calvert blamed “radical leftists.” Even without knowing the killer’s motive, the GOP framed the killing as a left-wing assassination plot and has been milking it ever since.

Events honoring Kirk became political rallies. His image was transformed into a kind of conservative martyrdom. It wasn’t about justice. It became a campaign.

Yet when Gillette called for a sitting U.S. Congresswoman to be hanged, the party suddenly forgot how to issue statements.

Selective Outrage, Strategic Silence

This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s a pattern, and it’s getting worse.

When Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned in his home in 2022, the right responded with jokes and conspiracy theories.

When Rep. Ilhan Omar was targeted by a man threatening to shoot her and bomb federal buildings, the story barely made a blip in right-wing media.

When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke about fearing for her life during the January 6th insurrection, Republican lawmakers rolled their eyes.

Just months before Gillette’s threat, a gunman targeted Democratic state legislators in Minnesota, killing one couple, attempting to kill another, and maintaining a hit list. The state and national GOP expressed some words of sorrow but offered no consistent leadership or moral reckoning.

However, when Marjorie Taylor Greene is heckled at a town hall, it becomes a national emergency. When Charlie Kirk is gunned down, the left is blamed before the crime scene is even cleared.

The GOP isn’t committed to de-escalating political violence. They’re committed to owning the narrative about it.

Democrats Respond The Way Leaders Should

In the wake of Gillette’s threat, Democratic leaders did speak up.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the remarks “dangerous and unacceptable,” adding that “this language has no place in a functioning democracy.”
Jayapal responded directly, writing,

“I’ve received violent threats before. But it is dangerous and despicable for an elected official to publicly call for my execution. The normalization of these threats must stop.”

Even as they mourned the murder of Charlie Kirk, Democratic leaders like Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Jamie Raskin reiterated their condemnation of all political violence, regardless of ideology.

This contrast couldn’t be clearer. One party speaks out against violence across the board. The other weaponizes it or ignores it when it’s politically inconvenient.

What Their Silence Really Means

The GOP’s silence in the face of Gillette’s threat isn’t just cowardice. It’s complicity.

When political leaders fail to speak up against calls for violence, they embolden the next Gillette. They establish a permission structure for threats, harassment, and potentially worse consequences. They teach their base that some enemies are fair game, especially if they’re women of color, especially if they’re progressive, especially if they fight back.

And perhaps most dangerously, they send a message that violence only matters when it happens to them.

This is how authoritarian movements operate. They don’t need to commit the violence themselves. They only need to decide whose violence counts.

When Silence Signals Approval

At the now-infamous Quantico summit, hundreds of high-ranking military leaders sat through speeches from Trump and Pete Hegseth that framed America as a country under siege — not from foreign enemies, but from within. Hegseth railed against “woke generals,” blasted “feminized standards,” and called for a return to “warrior discipline.” Trump referred to American cities as “training grounds” for future conflict. The language wasn’t subtle. It was combative, us-versus-them, apocalyptic.

And the generals sat there. Silent.

Maybe it was stoicism. Maybe professionalism. Maybe fear. But the effect is the same: the spectacle suggested approval, or at least acceptance. And some will use that response as permission.

That silence matters. Because when one of your own calls for a sitting Congresswoman to be hanged, and you say nothing, and when the Commander-in-Chief talks about domestic enemies in front of the military, and it is met with silence, you’re no longer neutral.

You’re helping draw the boundaries around which violence is acceptable, and who can be targeted. And this administration is clearly signaling that violence in their name is justified.

This Is Bigger Than One Threat

What we’re witnessing is not more than a failure of decency. It’s a breakdown of the democratic contract. A functioning democracy requires that all participants accept basic norms: peaceful disagreement, shared rules, and the belief that no one should be silenced through force.

The GOP has abandoned that contract, not just with their words, but with their silence.

They had a choice. In the weeks after one of their own was killed, they could have shown leadership. They could have drawn a line. They could have said, “This is not who we are.”

Instead, they said nothing.

And in politics, silence is policy. And in that silence, they said everything.

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Sources:

• “Republican Arizona lawmaker makes post calling for execution of Democratic congresswoman” — The Guardian

• “Jayapal Response to Calls for Political Violence from AZ Lawmaker” — Office of Rep. Pramila Jayapal

• “National Dems call for reprisals against AZ GOP lawmaker for ‘unconscionable’ call to hang colleague” — Arizona Mirror

• “Arizona GOP Rep. John Gillette: US congresswoman should be hanged” — AZCentral

• “Arizona lawmaker calls for WA congresswoman to be executed for urging Trump protests” — Washington State Standard

• “What to know about the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination” — PBS NewsHour

• “Republican push for tips on Charlie Kirk posts drives firings of public workers” — Stateline

• “’We are in a war’: rightwing media vow retribution for Charlie Kirk killing” — The Guardian

• “House approves resolution honoring Charlie Kirk with dozens of Democrats opposed” — AP News

• “Memorial service of Charlie Kirk” — Wikipedia

• “Assassination of Charlie Kirk” — Wikipedia

• “Fear, praise, and silence: Reactions to Trump’s military gathering” — Reuters

• “Trump and Hegseth gather the military’s top commanders for a loyalty test” — Vox

• “The Silence of the Generals” — The Bulwark

• “Hundreds of Generals Try to Keep a Straight Face” — The Atlantic

• “Hegseth slams ‘fat generals,’ Trump touts cities as troop ‘training grounds’” — Reuters

• “Trump, Hegseth rally troops at rare meeting, rail against ‘woke’ standards” — CBS News

• “Hegseth rails against ‘woke,’ lays out standards in speech to top generals, admirals” — ABC News