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The Biggest Takeaway From the Terrorist Attack at the U.S. Capitol: Words Matter
One of the biggest takeaways from the insurrection and domestic terrorist attack at the U.S. Capitol this week was, words matter.
When the president, and his fellow party members, elected or appointed, use their platform to incite violence, stoke fears, and peddle disinformation to their supporters, they should be held accountable.
In a time when our country is so ardently divided, care must be taken with the words our leaders use and the rhetoric they spew on social media, in the news, or other public forums. Words have power and meaning, and when someone like Trump uses their platform to spread conspiracy theories and lies, they must be held accountable.
At a rally on January 6th, Trump told his supporters, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” urging them to go to the Capitol. And they went. They took his words to heart and believed his comments to be a call to action.
Stoking fear, fueling conspiracy theories, and encouraging vigilante justice to protect the nation from a fictitious boogeyman are the main tenets of Trump and the Republican Party platform. Even worse, Republican leadership and Florida members of Congress such as Representative Matt Gaetz, Representative Brian Mast, Senator…