Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.
Jeremy Carl, President Donald Trump’s top nominee for a State Department position, deleted thousands of social media posts before his nomination, many of which advocated violence toward Democrats.
If approved by the Senate, Carl would oversee U.S. policy for the UN and other multinational organizations, managing over 100 U.S. diplomats around the globe, CNN reports.
Carl targeted Democrats and left-leaning individuals in his posts, calling for some to receive the “death penalty” for their views. In one post, he suggested to his followers that opposition to Democrats was a matter of life or death.
“There is no ‘peaceful coexistence’ we are going to have when our opposition is led by people like this,” Carl wrote in one post responding to comments from then-Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri). “We either win or die.”
Carl has a history of downplaying right-wing violence — including the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building. Carl dismissed criticisms of that attack on social media, even suggesting that people facing arrest and conviction for their participation in the attack were somehow being treated worse than Black Americans were during the Jim Crow era.
In total, Carl deleted around 5,000 posts.
The news of Carl’s posts comes as the Trump administration is escalating its crackdown on left-wing voices, baselessly accusing the left of promoting violence against public figures — an accusation that ignores years of evidence showcasing that the majority of political violence emanates from the right. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are increasingly issuing calls for violence against their political opponents.
Last week, State Rep. John Gillette (R-Arizona), called for the execution of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), wrongly accusing her of committing treason because she had encouraged her constituents to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly.
Gillette, responding to a video of Jayapal in March that came to his attention on Wednesday, derided the Washington Democrat for telling voters they should prepare to hold strikes against their workplaces and to be “street ready” for protests of the Trump administration.
“Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried convicted and hanged… it will continue,” Gillette wrote on X.
Shortly after the killing of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk, Kentucky State Rep. TJ Roberts (R) dehumanized Democrats in comments on social media that verged on apocalyptic.
“America is under attack by the Left. Leftism is a terroristic, death worshipping cult,” Roberts wrote on X. “Every semblance of it must be eradicated from this nation if we are ever to be at peace.”
In a separate post, Roberts added:
The Left is waging literal war on Americans. Don’t appease the Left. Destroy this death worshipping, terroristic cult. America will never be the same.
This past weekend, Trump himself called for violence against his political opponents, ordering that the “full force” of the U.S. military be authorized to attack supposed “Antifa”-related “domestic terrorists” in Portland, Oregon. The order comes after Trump issued a vague memorandum on Friday expanding the definition of “Antifa” to include a wider swath of left-leaning people.
“At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
Political leaders in Oregon responded to Trump’s call for violence against Portland with confusion and condemnation.
“We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) said. “There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.”
“This is an egregious abuse of power and a betrayal of our most basic American values,” said Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter (D).
Media that fights fascism
Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that’s why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump.
We rely on your support to survive McCarthyist censorship. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation.