Ohio Newspaper Ripped to Shreds After Dramatic Escalation of Twisted 'Trump Asked for It' Blame Game

Though pretty much nothing the mainstream media does shocks me anymore, I still can't help but be amazed sometimes at the sheer brazenness of some of the things they treat as news, the way more serious stories are either downplayed or framed, and how they make zero apologies for it - even after being called out.

Case in point, the sickening "it's Trump's fault" narrative they've shamelessly spun in the aftermath of the second assassination attempt on GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's life in two months.

For instance, some outlets declared Sunday it was Trump and not Democrats who should be calling for the rhetoric to be dialed down after the second attempt on his life, reportedly at the hands of a crazed left-winger. Perhaps most audacious was the "report" from NBC News anchor Lester Holt, who said "Today's apparent assassination attempt comes amid increasingly fierce rhetoric on the campaign trail. Mr. Trump, his running mate JD Vance continue to make baseless claims about Haitian immigrants..."

But anyone who didn't think it could get any worse than what they've already seen come from these people in response to Sunday's chilling incident and subsequent arrest might want to take a look at a reader letter greenlighted for publication by the Cincinnati Enquirer that quite literally suggested that Trump "brings a lot of this stuff on himself":

Opinion: Opinion: There is no place in politics for violence. That said, the former president, Donald Trump, brings a lot of this stuff on himself. https://t.co/vq4J5VSKIe
— Enquirer (@Enquirer) September 16, 2024

It only got worse from there:

There is no place in politics for violence. That said, the former president, Donald Trump, brings a lot of this stuff on himself. When he continues to push lies about legal immigrants like the ones in Springfield, Ohio; when he continues to insist he was not the loser of the 2020 election; when he continues to spout how he wants to use our military to "round up" and deport immigrants who are not white from this country, he brings the crazies out, and one of those crazies tries to shoot him.

Read the full letter below:

It’s actually worse than the tweet makes it.

Cinci’s biggest newspaper published this two paragraph reader letter, arguing in part that it’s Trump’s fault because protecting him is expensive. https://t.co/TZKaWOkIhQ pic.twitter.com/oiFglGNijO
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) September 16, 2024

Yes, this was a letter to the paper and not something the paper itself wrote. But this is what I would call a dangerous normalization of the victim-blaming we've already seen come from the mouths of many in the press and on the left, as we've extensively documented.

I get that some letters to the paper/editor are going to push buttons and perhaps be controversial but this goes far beyond that. This is "skirt too short" territory, and as a publication, the Enquirer has the responsibility and obligation to draw the line somewhere.

Conservatives on Twitter/X were in agreement, and let the Enquirer have it:

The Cincinnati Enquirer not only published the letter, they felt so strongly about it that they felt compelled to post it on X.

Our media is a national disgrace. https://t.co/jqc3qgrzyn
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) September 16, 2024

As someone who read the Cincinnati Enquirer growing up and has seen its decline over the years, I’m not surprised it would run such an insane letter. The Enquirer is like a high school newspaper run by socially awkward, talentless students who are mad that everyone ignores them. https://t.co/is8zEwNm8h
— Eric Sammons (@EricRSammons) September 16, 2024

The second grossest thing of this is that the newspaper opinion board hid behind some rando to put this take in the paper. They want to say it, but used an idiot stupid enough to send in the letter. https://t.co/0N4AdEoI13
— Town Moron (@townmoron) September 16, 2024

Yep, it's a variation of the classic "some people are saying" media tactic, and as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) observed, it's utterly disgusting.