Right-Wing Bomb Thrower Eric Metaxas Blames the Left’s Rhetoric for Trump Assassination Attempt

Kyle MantylaBy Kyle Mantyla | July 16, 2024 1:57 pm

Ever since Joe Biden became president, few right-wing commentators have been as viciously unhinged as religious-right broadcaster Eric Metaxas.

Now, in the wake of the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump over the weekend, Metaxas has the gall to place the blame for the attack entirely on the left, accusing liberals of comparing Trump to Hitler and, in doing so, being responsible for the death of Corey Comperatore, who was shot during the Trump rally.

“Leftist Trump hatred murdered this godly man,” Metaxas tweeted on Sunday.

Metaxas repeated this accusation on Monday’s edition of his radio program.

“I have absolutely known this was coming because when you can’t defeat Trump in the various ways that you’ve outlined, you’re going to find a way to get rid of him if you believe he’s Adolf Hitler 2.0, which they seem to,” Metaxas said. “They have no evidence. It’s insane. He’s never done anything to warrant those comparisons, but they’re thinking emotionally, which is to say they’re not thinking clearly, and I never saw this as anything but inevitable.”

“Now they [have to] deal with the fact that they have been implicated and are implicated in the minds of any fair-minded American in bringing this about,” he continued. “There’s no doubt about that. They look horrible, and they’re trying to call for unity. One of the most despicable tweets I saw was from Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice said something about, ‘We need to do better [as] the American people, we need to do better.’ And I thought, ‘No, Condoleezza, you need to do better because you’re implying that [it was] nastiness on both sides that led to that bullet being fired.’ … It’s just despicable that she would not-to-obliquely but rather diplomatically try to implicate pro-Trump people in raising the temperature in this country.”

Of course, if anyone is to be implicated in “raising the temperature in this country” by making wild accusations and leveling outrageous attacks, it is Metaxas himself, who has repeatedly compared his political opponents to the Nazis and attacked them as demonic.

Even in the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life and Biden’s call for unity, Metaxas is still attacking Biden as “my enemy and the enemy of America.”

And let’s not forget that in the days leading up to the Capitol Insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, Metaxas himself emceed a far-right rally at which Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes vowed to wage a “much more bloody war” if Trump was removed from office.

“Oh, God bless you,” said Metaxas, following Rhodes’ threat. “This guy’s keepin’ it real, folks.”

In 2023, Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

For Metaxas to claim that rancorous rhetoric from the left has been solely responsible for “raising the temperature in this country” while ignoring the fact that he has spent the last several years using his daily program to literally demonize his political opponents is the height of hypocrisy.

Every day, Right Wing Watch exposes extremism to help the public, activists, and journalists understand the strategies and tactics of anti-democratic forces—and respond to an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian far-right movement. The threat is growing, but our resources are not. Any size contribution will help us continue our work and become more effective at disrupting the ideologies, people, and organizations that threaten our freedom and democracy. Please make an investment in Right Wing Watch’s defense of the values we share.

Tags: Eric Metaxas Trump Assassination Attempt

You Might Also Like