CNN political analyst Ana Navarro got into a spirited clash with Republican strategist Lee Carter on Tuesday about the role that political rhetoric is playing in the current climate of violence in the United States.
During the discussion, Carter echoed the Trump campaign's argument that labeling former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy directly inspired the two recent assassination attempts on him.
Navarro, however, was quick to reject this line of thinking and pointed out how Trump's rhetoric had led directly to violence over the past eight years.
In dissecting the rhetoric, Navarro compared Trump to a "Hurricane Category 5" whereas his Democratic opponents were just "Category 2."
"Right now because of [Trump's] rhetoric, because of what he said in that debate, there's been 33 bombing threats in Springfield, Ohio," she said. "That would not have happened but for this false conspiracy theory being spread... and those Haitians in Springfield, Ohio and those students who are the victims of these threats and everything that's going on there don't have 24-7 Secret Service!"
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Carter responded by saying she's "not here to debate whether Trump's rhetoric is causing its own set of problems" but was only focused on rhetoric that purportedly led to the attempts on Trump's life.
" Joe Biden said that it was not just Donald Trump but also his supporters who were a threat to democracy!" she complained.
In fact, Trump has repeatedly called rival Kamala Harris a "Marxist," a "communist," and a "fascist," and has also accused immigrants of "poisoning the blood" of the United States in a line that directly echoes writings Adolf Hitler made about Jews.
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