The shameless hypocrisy of MAGA’s post-WHCD attack blame game
The president’s biggest supporters insist they should be able to say anything they want, no matter how vicious — but everyone else should watch their mouths.
We can say anything we want, no matter how vicious, racist, incendiary or violent, but if you call us fascists or Nazis, then that’s an obvious incitement to political violence and possibly criminal.
That’s essentially the insta-reaction of many Republican officials and MAGA pundits to the reported assassination attempt against President Donald Trump and members of his administration at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.
Based on the accused would-be assassin Cole Tomas Allen’s reported writings before he attempted to storm the dinner, it seems apparent that “politics” in the broadest sense motivated him to try to commit what could have been a history-altering massacre. But it also seems pretty evident by allegedly deciding to take guns across state lines with murderous intent that he’s a deeply disturbed individual acting irrationally. He appears to have had easy access to guns and, by his own telling, encountered shockingly lax security at almost every juncture leading up to his attempted sprint past relaxed-looking Secret Service agents Saturday night.
There isn’t a single Democratic official or prominent liberal commentator minimizing or making excuses for Allen’s actions or rationalizations for attempting to commit murder. On the contrary, there’s been universal condemnation from that side. Yet that hasn’t stopped the accusations of incitement from the civility cops of the MAGA right, who accuse Democrats of cultivating violence while ignoring — if not celebrating — Trump’s most vicious, inhumane and racist statements.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in a Fox News interview Monday falsely claimed “Democrats want President Trump, Republicans murdered all across this country. Capitalists murdered.” He then pivoted to what seemed like a rehearsed speech about funding the Department of Homeland Security, invoking illegal immigrants accused of killing Americans and saying “Democrats don’t care.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday insinuated the media is responsible for inciting violence for “being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason.” (Blanche, in January, accused Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of “terrorism” for their resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s brutal crackdown that left two Americans shot to death in the street.)
Karoline Leavitt holds first briefing since attack at correspondents’ dinner April 27, 2026 / 06:52
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, also on Monday, blamed “the entire Democrat Party” for inspiring violence because they pitch to voters that Trump — who attempted a self-coup based on wholesale lies about election fraud in the 2020 election — “poses an existential threat to democracy, that he is a fascist and they compare him to Hitler.”
Right-wing commentator Erick Erickson posted Sunday, “The only time Democrats oppose collective responsibility for an action is when a progressive tries to kill people, inspired by Democrat rhetoric.”
This is a classic, crybullying civility cop move. Erickson, after all, is not only the same guy who in 2017, wrote “The political left is becoming the American ISIS,” but he also wrote in 2016 that Trump is a “racist,” a “fascist” and, “It can’t be any wonder that so many people with swastikas in their Twitter profile pics back Donald Trump. It takes one to know one.”
Trump in recent months has accused six Democratic members of sedition and suggested they should be hanged. (Sen. Scott dismissed concerns over this as Trump merely being “hypothetical.”)
He reacted to the tragic murders of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele by saying their killings “were reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.” And he despicably celebrated former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s death of natural causes: “Good. I’m glad he’s dead.”
As my MS NOW colleague Steve Benen noted last week, Trump is “the president who has told Americans his political opponents are ‘fascists’ who are also guilty of ‘treason.’ His domestic foes are also ‘enemies of the people,’ ‘the enemy within’ and ‘threats to democracy.’ Last year, Trump went so far as to insist Democrats were ‘evil’ and members of ‘the party of Satan.’”
Squelching of comedians and satire is the authoritarian’s dream: John Heilemann September 18, 2025 / 10:00
As I wrote last year, “It’s a fool’s errand trying to shame MAGA bigwigs by holding up a mirror to their flagrant hypocrisy. They don’t care, and they relish shameless trolling — like wielding awesome power to police the same words they use all the time.”
But we must remain vigilant that the MAGA cancel culture of censorship, firings, sanctions and even arrests that followed Charlie Kirk’s assassination isn’t replicated. And we should never accept the MAGA demand that their words be met with no recriminations (because that’s “cancel culture” and “incitement”), while insisting that their opponents never call them a mean name — even when the shoe fits.
The Little Boy Called the Maid Mom in Front of Everyone
A glamorous charity gala glittered beneath breathtaking crystal chandeliers.
Soft violin music floated through the magnificent ballroom.
Waiters carried silver trays filled with champagne.
Diamonds sparkled beneath golden lights.
The city’s wealthiest families laughed together.
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Everything appeared perfect.
Text on Screen:
“The little boy ignored everyone… and ran to the maid.”
Then—
a young boy in a tiny black tuxedo suddenly broke away from the crowd.
His polished shoes slid across the marble floor.
Guests turned in surprise.
Crystal glasses paused in midair.
A man in a tuxedo called out in shock.
“Noah!”
But the little boy didn’t stop.
Ignoring everyone—
he ran straight toward a quiet woman wearing a simple tan housekeeping uniform.
She had been quietly collecting empty glasses near the back of the ballroom.
The moment he reached her—
he threw his tiny arms around her waist.
“Mommy!”
The tray slipped from her trembling hands.
Silver spoons scattered across the marble floor.
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
She dropped to her knees.
Wrapped both arms around him.
And held him as though she would never let go again.
“I’m here, sweetheart…”
“I’m here.”
For one beautiful moment—
the entire ballroom stood still.
Then—
high heels echoed across the marble.
A glamorous woman in a black evening gown stormed toward them.
Her face burned with rage.
Without warning—
she yanked the little boy away.
Then—
SLAP!
The sound echoed through the silent ballroom.
The maid stumbled backward.
Fell to the floor.
Holding her burning cheek.
The little boy screamed.
“Mommy!”
The elegant woman shouted.
“Stay away from my son!”
Guests gasped.
Whispers spread through the ballroom.
“Why is he calling the maid ‘Mom’?”
“What’s happening?”
The wealthy woman dragged the struggling boy toward the exit.
He reached back with both hands.
Crying uncontrollably.
“Mommy!”
“Please don’t leave me!”
His heartbreaking cries silenced every conversation.
Standing only a few feet away—
his father remained frozen.
He looked at his sobbing son.
Then at the maid.
Then at his wife.
Suddenly—
a terrible realization crossed his face.
The child wasn’t confused.
He knew exactly who his mother was.
His voice trembled.
“Vivi…”
“What have you done?”
The woman froze.
Her confident expression disappeared.
“Richard…”
“Please…”
But it was too late.
An elderly woman slowly stood from the front table.
No one had noticed her before.
She was the retired head nurse from the hospital where Noah had been born.
Her voice was calm.
“It’s time.”
She reached into her handbag.
And placed an old hospital envelope on the table.
Inside—
birth records.
Footprints.
DNA paperwork.
And one signed confession.
Years earlier—
the maid had worked as a live-in nanny for the wealthy couple.
She had secretly given birth to Noah after a brief relationship with Richard before his marriage.
When complications left the newborn fighting for his life—
Vivi convinced everyone she had delivered the child herself.
The frightened young mother—
poor, alone, and powerless—
had been told her baby had died.
But she never stopped searching.
Desperate to stay close—
she accepted a job as a maid in the very house where her son was being raised.
Every birthday…
Every bedtime…
Every scraped knee…
She loved him quietly.
Never allowed to tell him the truth.
Until one day—
Noah discovered an old photograph hidden inside her locker.
A picture of her holding him only hours after he was born.
On the back—
written in faded ink—
were the words:
“My Noah… I’ll love you forever.”
From that day forward—
he secretly called her “Mommy.”
Richard’s knees gave way.
He looked at the woman he had ignored for years.
Tears streamed down his face.
“You spent your whole life…”
“…raising our son from the shadows.”
The maid quietly nodded.
“I didn’t want revenge.”
“I just wanted him to know…”
“…he was always loved.”
The little boy broke free once more.
He ran back across the ballroom.
Straight into her arms.
This time—
no one stopped him.
The guests stood in silence.
Many wiped away tears.
Even the musicians lowered their instruments.
Richard walked toward them.
He gently knelt beside his son.
Then looked into the maid’s tear-filled eyes.
“No more lies.”
“From today…”
“…our son will never have to choose between his parents again.”
The ballroom erupted into quiet applause.
Not for wealth.
Not for status.
But for the truth.
Because nothing—
not money…
not power…
not years of deception—
could break the bond between a child…
and the mother who gave him life.
“A mother’s love may be hidden… but a child’s heart always knows where home is.”
