Why Must We Express Empathy For People Who Don’t Care If We Live Or Die?

A screen grab captured from a video shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump appears to be injured after gunshots were reported as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Source: Anadolu / Getty

Saturday evening, former President Donald J. Trump was injured in a shooting by 20-year-old registered Republican Thomas Matthew Crooks, during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This shooting, leaving one dead and others injured, occurred just two days before the start of the RNC in Milwaukee, where the Republican Party planned to, and eventually did, formally select Trump as its presidential nominee.

Even as a student of Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating, it mattered to me not that the shooting might have been staged. We, sometimes, unfortunately, have far too many examples of people with extremist views who kill others to support their linear position. Rather, what concerned me were the calls for prayers from everyone, including those from marginalized communities who Trump’s policies have often harmed.

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What’s interesting about all of this was the repeated adage from U.S. policymakers of “violence is not the answer” and “violence has no place in politics” — ironic considering the U.S. government is one of the greatest purveyors of domestic and global hurt, harm, and abuse.

The expectation for empathy from historically oppressed communities towards those who perpetuate our suffering is fundamentally flawed.

The sudden call of “violence is not the answer” should indeed be coming from inside the house.

People pray during a vigil for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at Zeidler Union Square on July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. | Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty

On Oct. 8, 2020, the month before the November general election, the FBI announced the arrests of 13 men suspected of orchestrating a domestic terror plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and otherwise use violence to overthrow the state government. Many, including Whitmer, expressed that Trump’s violent rhetoric inspired the plot just as it did for the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol.

Conversely, Tudor Dixon, Michigan’s former GOP nominee for governor, joked about the kidnapping plot.

“The sad thing is that Gretchen will tie your hands, put a gun to your head and ask if you are ready to talk. For someone so worried about getting kidnapped, Gretchen Whitmer sure is good at taking business hostage and holding it for ransom,” Dixon said at one event.

In late 2022, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s husband, then 82-year-old Paul Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer at home by an assailant who acted with force and threatened his life while demanding to see his wife. As Mr. Pelosi lay in the hospital bed with a skull fracture, the son of the former president thought it would be a good time to make a joke.

There’s more empathy for Trump than Palestinians killed in the Gaza genocide.

A few days after the attack, Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a photo of a “Paul Pelosi Halloween costume” displaying underwear and a hammer, a reference to a debunked conspiracy theory about his attack. Not to be outdone by his own son, at the Republican Party Fall Convention, the former president himself mocked the Pelosis, expressing that the wall around their house failed to protect him from the attack. This comment received laughs from attendees.

I have witnessed more empathetic comments about Trump’s shooting and Corey Comperatore, the man killed while attempting to protect his family at the Butler rally, than about the thousands of Palestinians killed in the Gaza genocide. This is especially fascinating given Comperatore’s recently discovered X posts. One post that has received a significant amount of attention is Comperatore’s reply to Piers Morgan’s tweet about the news that more than a million people had fled their homes in Gaza following a warning from Israel.

“Where are these Palestinians going to live when the war is over? So many of their homes are being destroyed,” Morgan replied to the post by Sky News on Oct. 28, 2023.

Comperatore replied saying, “They’ll get over it. The Japanese did.”

Palestinians look at the debris of destroyed tents and make-shift housing structures following an Israeli military strike on the al-Mawasi camp for internally displaced people (IDP), near the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on July 13, 2024, in which 71 people were killed. | Source: BASHAR TALEB / Getty

The Republican Party, led prominently by figures like Trump, has pursued a relentless agenda that has disproportionately affected Black and brown communities, along with other marginalized groups. This includes severe restrictions on voting rights, regressive abortion policies, the forcible separation of immigrant families and the denial of gender-affirming care to young transgender individuals. These actions, coupled with a steadfast rejection of gun reform measures and insensitive remarks regarding school shootings, underscore a disturbing pattern of disregard for human rights.

The hypocrisy becomes glaring when the very communities targeted by these policies are expected to overlook or minimize the impact of such violence. The irony peaks when Trump, despite a near-fatal encounter involving firearms, continues to staunchly support the NRA and other gun lobbies. This stance not only defies logic but also amplifies the disconnect between rhetoric and reality within the party’s leadership.

The calls for prayers from everyone, including marginalized communities who Trump’s policies have often harmed, are concerning.

As debates intensify over the ethical and moral implications of these policies, the need for accountability remains critical. The juxtaposition of advocating for violence while expecting affected communities to disregard its consequences raises profound questions about integrity and fairness in political discourse.

The expectation for empathy from historically oppressed communities towards those who perpetuate our suffering is fundamentally flawed. Empathy is a reciprocal virtue that cannot be demanded unilaterally. While striving for personal growth and societal betterment is crucial, it is equally vital to recognize that humanity thrives on equitable treatment and mutual respect, not on coerced forgiveness or empathy akin to Stockholm syndrome. True progress toward justice demands an understanding of historical context and a commitment to dismantling systems of oppression rather than placing undue burdens on the marginalized.

Preston Mitchum is the Chief Executive Officer of PDM Consulting and a vibrant cast member on Bravo TV’s Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard. As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and an openly gay Black man, he actively incorporates his identity and experiences into his professional and public life, advocating for inclusivity and representation across all platforms he engages with.

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