I keep thinking of Kellyanne Conway’s remark, during Trump’s first term, about “alternative facts”– because if there is one through line in Trumpism, it is the daily effort to replace reality with the would-be King’s preferred alternative.
The Bulwark, among other media outlets, recently reported on one especially egregious example
The Department of Justice has removed content highlighting a decades-long trend: far-right extremists have carried out the overwhelming majority of ideologically motivated killings in the United States. The removal comes days after the assassination of conservative media figure Charlie Kirk, amid a renewed push by the Trump administration to blame the “radical left” for political violence.
Instead, visitors to that government website were informed that official websites were being reviewed, and that “some content” might be unavailable.
One bit of “unavailabe” content was a National Institute of Justice–funded study that documented the fact that far-right extremists have been responsible for the great majority of ideologically motivated killings in the United States since 1990. As the article noted, the study’s conclusion was hardly controversial; it was in line with decades of evidence from the Extremist Crime Database and from watchdog groups such as the Anti-Defamation League.
The study vanished just days after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an event the Trump administration used to sharpen its argument that the “radical left” is driving political violence. The contrast was stark: while the data showed a persistent pattern of far-right lethality, the government was simultaneously scrubbing its websites and amplifying a narrative that cast blame in the opposite direction.
Evidently, when the facts don’t support your preferred narrative, the obvious remedy is to bury the facts.
Among the material no longer reachable was research funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), long a sponsor of work by criminologist Steven Chermak and others who study extremist violence. Their Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) has consistently documented that far-right extremists account for far more killings than their far-left counterparts. One NIJ-published article put the point bluntly: far-right violence, it concluded, “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism.”
Independent evidence supports the same pattern. A 2021 ECDB-based study found that, between 1990 and 2020, far-right extremists were responsible for the overwhelming majority of ideologically motivated homicides. And the Anti-Defamation League reported that in 2023, every extremist-related murder in the United States was committed by far-right actors.
The real damage being done by the elimination of officially vetted evidence and facts isn’t that those facts disappear; the independent studies and other sources of information remain easily accessible. The problem is, the absence of an official, neutral and reliable source of information adds to an already massive problem–the internet’s invitation to indulge in confirmation bias. MAGA folks can find plenty of sites offering propaganda more consistent with their desired “facts.” For that matter, so can progressive folks. The absence of an official report, with numbers and data attested to by civil servants not in thrall to a politically desired result, encourages the polarization that has left Americans fragmented, polarized and unable to conduct civil conversations. It is one more step toward constructing alternate–and dramatically inconsistent–realities.
Granted, Trump is hardly the first to attempt to bend reality (although he may be the first President who is clearly unable to perceive or live in it…) As the Bulwark concluded,
Moments of crisis have long been leveraged to redraw the boundaries of legitimacy. Richard Nixon used the language of law and order to denounce protestors; George W. Bush invoked the “war on terror” to consolidate national unity and presidential power. Trump’s rhetoric fits that lineage but also departs from it, casting blame in ways that cut against the weight of evidence. By turning Kirk’s death into an ideological fulcrum, he signals not just how this White House interprets violence but how it intends to shape the nation’s memory of it. The question is whether Americans will accept that framing—or remember the data it seeks to eclipse.
I’ve forgotten who to credit with a quote that seems more apt every day: “Facts don’t care whether you believe them or not.” We do ourselves no favor when we choose to reject evidence in order to reside in a false alternate reality.
“Facts are stubborn things.” – John Adams
Another of my favorite quotes that I first heard from Mark Shields: “George Washington could not tell a lie, Richard Nixon could not tell the truth, and Donald Trump cannot tell the difference.”
On top of scrubbing the facts about political violence, this administration is no longer tracking data and facts in many significant areas of life in America; hunger and the effects of climate change stand out in my mind. I guess if we don’t count the number of hungry people in America there is no more hunger. Yay!
Facts don’t care if they hurt your feelings either. The problem with Trump is that his narcissistic ego is so fragile that anything that challenges him is either “fake news” or is considered “violence against him.”
He considers antifa “violent terrorists,” which means anybody resisting his fascist administration is antifa and will be dealt with severe repercussions. The anti-war and anti-genocide group Codepink is considered antifa in Trump’s eyes. They offended him at lunch the other day and insulted TACO. Now they get to feel the heat of the FBI and DoJ.
The DoJ can’t seem to make any arrests of pedophiles raping teen girls on video. Still, they will arrest and make life miserable for anyone protesting war or our participation in genocide. #amazing
As I mentioned, the reason Trump went after antifa is so he can go after any group on the Left that protests his fascist administration. This is what Stephen Miller has been waiting for since he is the Nazi running ICE and the DoJ. Facts will never impact Stephen since he is a true believer in white supremacy.
If Trump goes after comedians who mock him and threatens journalists who ask him pertinent questions, this will be interesting to watch. Maybe Mike and Micah will follow Trump’s path and censor this blog for holding them accountable.
Joking, not joking…
“The Department of Justice has removed content highlighting a decades-long trend: far-right extremists have carried out the overwhelming majority of ideologically motivated killings in the United States.”
The “Left” has recognized that far-right overwhelming majority as the killings happened; the “Right” found a martyr in the public killing of Charlie Kirk with “blood gushing from his neck” at a televised college rally. “If it bleeds, it leads!” Incidentally, by a young man raised in a Republican family; the man known to be on the roof of that building at Trump’s “attempted assassination” was known by security but ignored till he pierced Trump’s ear (maybe) and then they took action. We heard little about that incident and less about the actual victims, IF there were actual victims. Trump is known for his public whining and ranting over what he considers a slight or in opposition of his views.
The “Left” hand has always recognized with the “Right” hand has been doing; never more than today. Two days ago what they are doing and what they plan to do was televised globally; their leader bared to the world the destruction of America due, not so much to the actions of the “Right” but the INACTION of the “Left”. A report on Facebook this morning reported that approximately 75 MILLION voted for Vice President Harris, approximately 77 MILLION voted for Trump and approximately 89 MILLION did not vote. The election numbers don’t lie; the blame lies proportionately with the “Left” who stayed home that day.
The MAGA “Right” is now the movement supported by the 1st Amendment as those rights are being denied to the “Left” in the Trump demanded firings of public figures; it is supported by their 2nd Amendment actions being used against their own party in two highly public shootings. To quote Jack Webb; “Just the facts, ‘mam!”
U.S. Casualties – All Wars from 1775-2918 – 1.3 million + Civil War 2.1% of U.S. population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war
U.S. Population (2024) = 340 million – https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/12/population-estimates.html
Gaza Population (2024) = 2.1 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Strip = 1/160th of the U.S. Population
Gaza deaths from “assault” as of September 17, 2025 = 66,000 (Gazans) (+ 2 thousand Israeli’s) = 3.2% of the Gazan population + 66,000 x 160 = 10,560,000 (in proportion to the U.S. population as of 2024)
Conclusion (10.56 million vs. 1.3 million) – 8 times of Gazans have been killed proportionately vs. U.S. Casualties in ALL our Wars!
While obviously the Holocaust killed a far, far higher percentage of Jews – than this, the current near total destruction of – the entire – landscape of Gaza + the future deaths due to Starvation as well as continued attacks is UNBELIEVABLE – yet we remain – Stuck talking about – The “evils” of Hamas + Iran!
Facts – only matter – when we Care about -particular people!
Some of us – Jews such as myself and others – not Jewish – care about Deaths – Needless Deaths – in General – not “Justifiable deaths” and “non-Justifiable deaths” – related to this! It should be noted that – Genocide – also has occured in what is Now the U.S. related to Native People + Black People!
the Guardian.:today
special relationship:there can be no such thing with a snake like trump:
seems the punch line is at the end. reality check…
Are we at the point of no return? In spite of letters written by noted scholarly authors like Sheila, Heather Cox Richardson, David Brooks, et.al, the far right still has a grasp on our Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government. There are NO longer any checks and balances as enumerated in our constitution. Our only hope is that there is no vote tampering and that Democrats can take enough seats in November to stop this tyranny and reinstate the constitution.
Facts vs beliefs. Maybe that feels like a continuum to many people, but in reality, it’s a dichotomy. Everything spoken or written is either one or the other.
Beliefs form cultures. Cultures change from place to place and time to time. Facts, once established, do not.
Ideologies like MAGA are cultural artifacts. Trump uses the MAGA ideology as a weapon to accumulate wealth and power. The ideology of freedom and self-government opposes it.
There is room for only one of those two opposing beliefs here and now.
Checks and balances are only inconvenient things when the “leader” cares nought about them. Trump cares n ought about anything other than Trump and the money he can grab, by any means. Oh, well, maybe he cares about being in the elite group of autocratic leaders, who have clearly shunned him, now.
Poor baby.
Are the removed studies available and archived somewhere?
The “surprising” jump in jobs numbers this morning confirms the prof’s discussion points. I no longer have any confidence in any reporting coming from this MAGA administration, either in Indiana or from D.C. When the facts are inconvenient or contrary to reality, just make them go away or fudge them to reflect his delusion.
Hunger? No need to know about that. The people who are hunger are just lazy and shiftless, or illegal immigrants taking from the “true” hard-working, white, male, Christian Americans.
Political murder data? Who needs it when they can make up any “facts” about mass killings without any verified evidence, always confirming that those commie pinkos cause them.
All of this reminds me of the repeated events of witch burnings/lynchings throughout our history. At the local level, “law and order” meant murdering a minority individual in the most brutal and vicious way possible, driven by fear and hatred, not be any evidence or due process. Demonstrate in the clearest way possible that those in power make the rules and enforce them unmercifully. It has always been about control and power driven by greed and entitlement.
It makes me ill to see how many supposed Christians have embraced the fiction of Kirk’s saintliness when the evidence of his words show nothing but disdain for everything in the Gospels they so revere.
It becomes more and more clear every day that the United States has morphed into gangster rule. Protection racketeering on a grand scale being run by dark money oligarchy, with the front man performing out front while the country gets devoured by sociopaths. How can we survive 3 more years of this?
RESIST.
nit pick here:”checks and balances as enumerated in our constitution.” no, they are not’enumerated’ in the constitution; they are a concept
(principle of goverance) embodied in the constitution
Who votes for Maga? Haters, whiners, and the abysmally ignorant. Who doesn’t vote? The lazy and the depressed.
Honestly, I believe people should just start to go “off the grid” and learn to love nature. Get back to a simpler time before computers or electricity even.
They can’t run all this sh*t by themselves and thats a fact. As I heard somewhere once in a song “The revolution will not be televised!”