The New York Times editorial board did not mince words on Friday in an op-ed about President Donald Trump's response to recent political violence.
The board wrote that while Trump has been targeted by violence, "he also deserves particular responsibility for our angry culture."
"He uses threatening language in ways that no other modern president has," the editorial said.
The board noted that Trump has praised those who "commit violence in his name," pointing to Jan. 6 rioters he eventually pardoned.
"He sometimes seems incapable of extending basic decency to Democrats," the editorial board wrote, referring to Trump's refusal to call Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) following the assassination of former Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband. Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot, but survived.
"The new culture of political violence is being reinforced," the editorial board continued. "When we move on too quickly from an attack against our society’s organizing ideas, we normalize it. The next shooter, the next extremist, sees a society that accepts violence. Forgetting is dangerous. It encourages repetition."
The editorial was printed at a time when debates about political violence have dominated Capitol Hill.
Following the Minnesota shootings, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) blamed the event on "Marxists" who "didn't get their way" in a since-deleted post on X. The post caused Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) to confront Lee over the post. Smith told NBC News that she was "glad' to see the post taken down, though Lee had not yet apologized for the posts.
Last week, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was detained while attending a press conference held by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The senator was forced to the ground and handcuffed before being removed from the briefing.
Multiple Democratic lawmakers have also been either detained or arrested while protesting mass deportation operations conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.