A lack of bipartisan civility is not what led Trump supporters to storm the Capitol last week, resulting in five deaths. Opportunists from one political party encouraged conspiracy theories, resulting in 82 percent of Trump supporters believing that Biden’s victory was illegitimate. Even after the violence, 147 Republicans voted against certifying election results.
For years, some leaders of one political party have used racial stereotypes and ethnonationalism to divide us. Right-wing propagandists turn perpetrators into victims by calling any challenge to their lies “cancel culture” or the result of media bias.
Most Republicans are good people who want to see America heal. Yet national reconciliation is only possible when the GOP holds accountable those of its leaders who incite white nationalists and paranoia. It is the silence of too many Republicans unwilling to speak up that has brought our democracy to the precipice. — Reid McCollum, Hinsdale
