The Patriot Post® · The Real Domestic Terror Threat

During the Biden administration, the supposed “most dangerous terrorist threat” to America was “white supremacy.” Joe Biden infamously declared it so during the 2023 commencement address at Howard University, among numerous other references to this supposed looming crisis.

In that same speech, Biden stated, “There are those who demonize and pit people against one another. There are those who would do anything and everything, no matter how desperate or immoral, to hold onto power.”

The irony is that while he was clearly implying the threat was Donald Trump and conservatives, the reality was that Biden was engaged in a classic example of projection. It has been proven, especially following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, that the radical Left has increasingly taken over the Democrat Party, from which the genuine threat of domestic terrorism is really emanating.

Thus, the Trump administration has set its sights on addressing this growing and deadly problem emanating from the radical Left. As President Trump stated following Kirk’s assassination, “My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else that brings order to our country.”

Trump is reportedly considering designating a number of far-Left groups like antifa as domestic terrorist organizations. “Antifa is terrible,” Trump stated, “There are other groups. We have some pretty radical groups that got away with murder.”

“We are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller explained as he noted the doxing and attacking of public officials. “It is a vast domestic terror movement.”

Regarding the proclivity for engaging in and supporting political violence, Vice President JD Vance noted, “The data is clear, people on the Left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political silence. This is not a both-sides problem. If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem.”

Indeed, what made Biden’s warning about the threat of white supremacy ridiculous was not only that it was factually wrong, but there is blatant evidence to the contrary. The infamous “Summer of Love” with the Leftmedia gaslighting the widespread rioting across the nation as “mostly peaceful protests” underscored this reality.

Compare this to today. Where are the sustained riots — or any riots, for that matter — following Kirk’s assassination? What has followed Kirk’s assassination has been prayer vigils and church attendance. No destruction of property, looting, and violence in the name of “justice.”

In fact, what Trump is seeking to do is focus on and root out this dangerous, radical leftist evil that has gone unchecked and unaddressed for years. This has especially been the case on college and university campuses across the country, where conservatives repeatedly faced not only physical opposition but even violence.

There is a danger here, though, of overreach. This was demonstrated by Attorney General Pam Bondi warning that the Justice Department would go after businesses that discriminate against conservatives, such as the instance of a since-fired Office Depot employee who refused to print up fliers for a customer advertising a prayer vigil related to Kirk’s death.

Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey gives the background: “The Office Depot issue blew up last week when one employee at one location in Michigan refused service to a customer (the Kalamazoo County Republican Party) who wanted to make fliers for a Kirk prayer vigil. The employees claimed that they are not required to print ‘political propaganda.’” Office Depot fired the employee, and the customer got the fliers printed (for free) at a nearby FedEx location.

Bondi weighed in, saying:

That’s horrific. It’s free speech, but you shouldn’t be employed anywhere if you’re going to say that. And employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people — you need to look at people who are saying horrible things, and they shouldn’t be working with you. Businesses cannot discriminate. If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that. But I have Harmeet Dhillon right now in our Civil Rights unit looking at that immediately, that Office Depot had done that, we’re looking at that.

Just like the Left’s “bake the cake” authoritarianism, Bondi’s warning runs counter to Americans’ First Amendment free speech rights, which include the freedom from compelled speech. A private individual or company should not be compelled to promote speech with which they may disagree. Colorado baker Jack Phillips won his case at the Supreme Court on a similar issue — no, he did not have to bake a cake validating the life choices of a gender-confused customer.

Let the free market address this issue, which it quickly did in this case, and not the heavy hand of government.

In another comment that generated some pushback, Bondi told a podcast, “There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place — especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society.” She added, “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”

She later clarified that she intended to reject speech that advocates or leads to violence: “Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment.”

Bondi is walking (and partly crossing) a fine line here between the Rule of Law and left-wing tactics of suppressing free speech with a “hate” label. She’s approaching this with justifiable anger, but she’d best be very careful.

(Updated)