Radical Democrat supporters are demanding extreme action, including violence and bloodshed, as House Democrats warn their base is growing dangerously unhinged. In interviews with Axios, lawmakers revealed their own constituents are urging them to “be willing to get shot” and calling for blood to grab headlines.
“Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough,” one Democrat said. “There needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public.” Others described being told that “civility isn’t working” and that violence is the only way to “protect our democracy.”
Just hours after the Axios report, a gunman wearing tactical gear ambushed federal agents in McAllen, Texas, outside a Border Patrol annex facility. Three officers were injured before law enforcement killed the shooter, identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda. Authorities say it was a deliberate attack.
Though not all Democrats reported such calls for violence, “nearly every one who spoke to Axios cited examples of voters’ panic and fury fueling demands to adopt brute force tactics.” Party members also face pressure from online radicals. One lawmaker admitted, “People online have sent me crazy [expletive]… told me to storm the White House and stuff like that.”
With approval ratings plummeting and internal dissatisfaction growing, Democrats now face what Politico describes as a “Tea Party-style, intra-party revolt.” As one congressman bluntly put it, “It’s like… the Roman coliseum. People just want more and more of this spectacle.”