“Assassins are enemies of democracy. They’re murderers too, of course—one of the bullets meant for Trump killed a father of two—but they warrant special hatred for their affront to the political order. It’s one thing to kill, it’s another to deprive hundreds of millions of citizens of their choice of national leader. The words “rigged election” have been wildly overused since November 2020 but assassination really is election-rigging of the highest order.”

“Trump has winked at or celebrated violence against his political enemies repeatedly, from offenses as grand as honoring the miscreants behind January 6 to ones as petty as mocking Nancy Pelosi’s elderly husband after he was nearly bludgeoned to death. When a child aroused by fire is warned not to play with matches and persists, it’s understandable to treat his inevitable singeing as a hard but useful lesson that might make him behave more responsibly.”