The Atlantic: It’s Trump Officials’ Fault They Have To Flee Homes
The article discusses the important threat of left-wing violence against senior members of the Trump administration, which has forced officials and their families, including those with young children, to relocate to military bases for protection-somthing far more extensive than in previous administrations. It highlights key figures such as Stephen Miller, kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, and others who are living in military housing due to threats and assassination attempts from leftist individuals and groups.
The Atlantic is criticized for attributing these threats to national polarization, partly caused by the Trump administration itself, and for downplaying violence by suggesting it is a “both sides” issue, citing incidents against Biden administration officials involving leftist protesters. The article mocks The Atlantic’s portrayal of relocation to military bases as a “status symbol” and challenges the notion that providing military protection to officials is problematic.
The article also references violent acts attributed to Antifa, including the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk and attacks on ICE facilities, criticizing The Atlantic for minimizing these threats by calling the “domestic terrorist organization” designation meaningless under federal law.
Additionally, a New York Times piece is critiqued for framing military housing occupation by Trump officials as questionable without acknowledging the credible threats that prompted the move. The piece contrasts the current climate with previous administrations, noting that past Defence Secretaries felt secure at home, while Trump officials face ongoing danger.
the article argues left-wing violence poses a serious and targeted threat to Trump administration members, a fact the mainstream media and some academics either ignore or downplay, frequently enough dismissing the danger as a partisan or equal-prospect problem.
The threat of left-wing violence against senior members of the Trump administration is so severe that families with young children are being forced to vacate their homes and live on military bases. According to The Atlantic, they had it coming.
Officials such as top adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and an unnamed senior White House official have been forced to live in military housing, far more than in previous administrations, the Atlantic’s Michael Scherer, Missy Ryan, and Ashley Parker noted in a Thursday piece.
The authors have some thoughts about why, facing a dramatic uptick in threats and assassination attempts by leftists against conservatives, these officials might be uprooting from their family homes. The culprit, they declare, is “the nation’s polarization, to which the Trump administration has itself contributed.” Stephen Miller basically invited kooks to show up at his house and terrorize his wife and kids, see, by advocating for an immigration policy that hurts leftists’ feelings. (The irony is lost on The Atlantic writers that the group warning the Millers their kind will “not be tolerated” calls itself Arlington Neighbors United for Humanity.)
Miller, whom leftists like this guy publicly and casually fantasize about murdering, is “known for his inflammatory political rhetoric” and “regularly derides Democrats with inflammatory language,” the authors remind us. He was probably wearing a short skirt, too.
The Atlantic even found a source to blame the military for providing protection for Cabinet officials and their families. Keeping them safe on bases is “problematic,” says Johns Hopkins prof Adria Lawrence, because the military of a “robust democracy” should be “for the defense of the country as a whole and not just one party.” (Lawrence looks, let’s just say, exactly how you might expect.)
Another academic conveniently told The Atlantic’s readers that yes, political violence is a problem, but it’s an issue for Both SidesTM. To demonstrate this claim, the authors cited an example of Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken being harassed by protesters who camped out at his house and “spattered fake blood on cars as they passed by.” Awkwardly for the Atlantic, these protesters were leftists angry that the Biden administration was not pandering enough to terrorist-run Gaza.
Lest you risk feeling sorry for the Millers’ three small children, The Atlantic reassures us that being run out of your home and onto a military base is actually a “status symbol” that confers “a certain sheen of importance” upon the displaced family.
“The isolation of living on a military base, at least for civilians, has also created a deeper division between Trump’s advisers and the metropolitan area where they govern,” the authors continue. “Trump-administration officials, who regularly mock the nation’s capital as a crime-ridden hellscape, now find themselves in a protected bubble…”
Did you catch that? Trump officials deserve no peace at their homes because they’re fascists. As evidence of their fascist tendencies, just look to the fact that they’re living on military bases and not among normal Democrat voters who want them murdered! Too bad the Trump administration has, um, shown no interest at all in addressing the rampant crime problem in Democrat-controlled Washington.
The authors go on to stress how ridiculous it was for the Trump administration to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization after the assassination of conservative powerhouse Charlie Kirk and multiple attempted assassinations of federal immigration agents. (Kirk’s very-online shooter engraved his cartridges with language calling Kirk a fascist, and the July 4 attack on a Texas ICE facility was allegedly carried out by an Antifa cell.) The authors downplay the move by noting that “the category of domestic terrorist organization has no meaning in federal law.” They must have forgotten that in 2020, their paper ran a piece urging the creation of a “Domestic Terrorist Organization” designation to fight racism.
Just as bad as the Atlantic piece is a writeup by The New York Times, which frames the story not as one of Democrat violence driving families from their homes but of “Trump administration officials taking over military residences.”
“It is unclear why so many Trump administration officials have sought to live on military bases,” John Ismay and Hamed Aleaziz write in the Times. Why might people who saw their friend assassinated in broad daylight, saw the president survive at least two assassination attempts, and saw a Republican-appointed Supreme Court justice survive an assassination attempt after left-wing protesters swarmed justices’ homes, want to minimize the risk to their families? It’s just impossible to say, really.
Either Ismay and Aleaziz are wilfully ignoring the obvious threat of left-wing violence, or they possess the collective observational skills of a box of rocks — both disqualifying traits for self-styled reporters.
It’s just so baffling, they continue, because Obama Defense Secretaries Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel “felt secure in their homes” when they were in office. What could possibly be different for Trump officials? If Panetta wasn’t scared of Tea Party grandmas, surely the Millers can shrug off the threat of antifa mobs and leftists like Virginia Democrat Jay Jones calling for the murder of Republicans?
Remember kids, political violence is a Both SidesTM problem.
Elle Purnell is the assignment editor at The Federalist. She has appeared on Fox Business and Newsmax, and her work has been featured by RealClearPolitics, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Independent Women’s Forum. She received her B.A. in government with a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @_ellepurnell.
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