AP Photo/Matt Slocum
Following the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump, a common refrain from the left was that political violence is a "both sides" issue. MSNBC tried that line multiple times, as did some of the major newspapers, with the idea being that you can't call out Democrat rhetoric because Republican rhetoric has caused issues as well.
So what was the evidence for that equivocation being used as a way to deflect from someone trying to murder Trump again? CNN's Dana Bash provided a perfect example of it when she accused JD Vance of inciting "bomb threats" in Springfield, OH.
To be sure, the claim was dubious from the moment it left her mouth. Bomb threats are a dime a dozen. They happen every day and are historically harmless fear-mongering. After all, why would an attacker call in a bomb threat if they intended to use a bomb to cause harm? That would defeat the purpose. Regardless, pretending that's equatable to an attempted assassination in which an actual shooter was fired upon and arrested is laughable.
There's another problem with the press line about those "bomb threats," though. They were not only all hoaxes, but they were not connected to anyone supporting JD Vance. There's not even any evidence they were made in relation to the Haitian migrant situation.
This was completely predictable. As I noted above, bomb threats are essentially all hoaxes. I can't remember a single time that a bomb threat was made prior to an actual bombing. I'm not saying that's never happened in human history. I'm sure it has, but it's certainly rare to the point of being almost non-existent.
Typically, a bomb threat is called in as a prank or as a way to cause chaos. To take a series of them without knowing their origin or purpose and then to use them to suggest JD Vance and Donald Trump were inciting violence was baseless nonsense. It was also completely transparent. Democrats never apply that standard to anyone on their own side, even when the violence being perpetrated is unquestionably real.
So will the mainstream press share this new information about these "bomb threats?"
I'll go ahead and spoil it for everyone. Bash is never going to mention that story again. She won't go on air to correct the record. She won't apologize for blaming Vance and Trump for something they didn't do. Instead, she'll just move on to the next narrative without having to answer for the collapse of the last one. That's how the press always operates, and it's why no one should trust them to be a purveyor of truth.
