There are absolutely extremist supporters of both sides. For instance, I'm dismayed at some of the schadenfreude reactions on Twitter by anti-Trump people right now. (In particular the "I love to see Trump supporters cry" meme that really needs to die, as it's extremely antagonistic and unhelpful.) However the difference is, on the Republican side, it comes right from the top. Just read Trump's twitter feed: it's an endless stream of ad-hominem attacks and lies. Regular politicians will attack their opponents' positions, and they'll spin or stretch the truth sometimes, but I've never seen another American politician, much less a president, stoop to the level that Trump regularly inhabits in his everyday discourse. I mean, just listen to Biden's victory speech and compare it to Trump's. Or compare their twitter feeds. To say the Republican party stands for civil discourse... I honestly don't know how you could have watched the President for the past four years and come away with that impression.
Also the Roger Stone - Alex Jones connection, it’s a preposterous projection of the extreme right to justify abuse of power on their end. There is simply no objective „both-sides“ ground to any of those claims. https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/13/roger-stone-...
> I mean, just listen to Biden's victory speech and compare it to Trump's. Or compare their twitter feeds. To say the Republican party stands for civil discourse... I honestly don't know how you could have watched the President for the past four years and come away with that impression.
Easy, just look at who is in favour of censorship, "deplatforming", violence against people with the "wrong" opinions. Words don't hurt, Tweets are overrated. But silencing people, causing them to lose their jobs, or just assaulting them, that hurts.
Words can absolutely hurt. Trump's rhetoric has severely ramped up partisan anger and disaffection, contributing to real violence in several cases.
I don't believe it's the case that Biden or anyone in the leadership of the Democratic party has advocated for violence against people with wrong opinions, or indeed anyone.
