OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic strategist and co-host on The Five, is encountering significant backlash for remarks she made earlier this week.
During an appearance on Fox News, Tarlov employed what many on social media are labeling dangerous rhetoric, which critics believe could incite violence against former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for the White House.
In an interview on the network, Tarlov was discussing the 2024 presidential election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, when she observed: “This is the chance to put the final nail in the coffin so that you don’t have Donald Trump on the ballot again.”
rump has been the target of at least two assassination attempts, both occurring within a 60-day span. Also, a California sheriff said his deputies thwarted what they claim was a third attempt during Trump’s Coachella, Calif., rally on Saturday.
Many individuals on the political right believe that the vilification of the 45th president by left-wing politicians and the media fueled these murder attempts.
🚨 WTF — Democrat strategist Jessica Tarlov incites violence against President Trump:
“This is the chance to put the final nail in the coffin so that you don’t have Donald Trump on the ballot again.” pic.twitter.com/InEmav0quu
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) October 11, 2024
One X account named Common Sense Custodian replied to the video clip by saying, “Absolutely UNACCEPTABLE to speak like this. She needs to be FIRED immediately.”
Another user, Mark Ivey, responded by writing, “I don’t see why they keep her on The Five. I have to check to see if she or Harold is on every night. She’s the worst.”
Other responses include:
- “This b**ch is why I stopped watching Fox News.
- “These people are vile.”
- “Time to fire Jessica or require her to get counseling for her TDS. The violent innuendos are a big turn off to viewers.”
- “I couldn’t hate this woman more…one of several reasons won’t watch @FoxNews
anymore. Too bad the kids ruined it!”
The former president has directly attributed the blame for both assassination attempts on his life to President Joe Biden and the vice president, claiming that their ongoing rhetoric portraying him as a threat to democracy has led some on the left to feel compelled to eliminate him to protect their freedoms.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” Trump said in comments to Fox News Digital, according to a report from The Associated Press.
“While authorities continue to investigate the motives of both the gunman in Pennsylvania and the person arrested Sunday in Florida, Trump has made clear that he sees attempts on his life as politically motivated — and blames his rivals for them,” the AP added.
But it’s not clear that an investigation is really underway.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claimed that federal law enforcement is intentionally impeding the state’s investigation into the last attempt to assassinate Trump and that the Biden-Harris administration is not only not collaborating with state authorities investigating the matter.
During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Thursday, the two-term governor and previous GOP presidential candidate for 2024 stated that state investigators tried to enter a location where the alleged attacker, Ryan Routh, 58, was waiting for Trump while he played golf last Sunday at his course close to Palm Beach, but were “rebuffed” by federal authorities.
“I want to turn to another topic because we were relieved to hear that you are doing your own independent investigation in Florida concerning the second assassination attempt on President Trump,” Ingraham noted to begin her segment with DeSantis on Thursday. “My question to you tonight is, are the Feds being cooperative with your investigation? Are you concerned that you’re not getting the information you need?”
“The answer is, no, they’re not being cooperative. Yes, I am concerned. I mean, for example, we were rebuffed. Our investigators were rebuffed just going to the fence line outside of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach,” DeSantis said.
