Normalizing Violence: Trumpism Sparks a Slow Civil War in America

Journalist Jeff Sharlet argues that Trumpism has normalized violence in U.S. politics, linking the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting and broader gun-enabled acts to a broader pattern he terms a “slow civil war.” He contends that the era’s spectacle politics, deification of leaders, and widespread access to guns desensitize the public and harden partisan narratives, making political violence seem ordinary and acceptable rather than condemnable.