An advisory group has warned members of Congress against holding town halls in their districts due to a recent wave of violent threats from supporters of former president Donald Trump.
"Bradford Fitch, president of the Congressional Management Foundation, which advises lawmakers on issues like running their offices and communicating with constituents, said he now urged members not to hold open public meetings, an American tradition dating back to the colonies, because of security concerns," the New York Times reported Friday night. "Politics, he said, had become 'too raw and radioactive.'"
Fitch told the NYT: "I don't think it's a good idea right now. I hope we can get to a point where we can advise members of Congress that it's safe to have a town-hall meeting."
In a story titled "Menace Enters the Republican Mainstream," the newspaper reported that violent threats against lawmakers are on track to double this year.
"Republicans who break party ranks and defy former President Donald J. Trump have come to expect insults, invective and death threats — often stoked by their own colleagues and conservative activists, who have denounced them as traitors," the NYT reported. "From congressional offices to community meeting rooms, threats of violence are becoming commonplace among a significant segment of the Republican Party."
Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the left-leaning group New America who has studied political violence, told the newspaper that he has "a hard time seeing how we have a peaceful 2024 election after everything that's happened now."
"I don't see the rhetoric turning down, I don't see the conflicts going away. I really do think it's hard to see how it gets better before it gets worse," Drutman said.
