Tag Archive for: Political Targeting

Americans Fear Surging Political Violence Will Lead to Assassination

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Political violence has been on the rise in recent months, and most Americans expect the fatal trend to continue, according to a new survey. Politico and Public First released a poll Monday which found that a majority of Americans anticipate political violence in the U.S. to worsen in the coming years.

In total, 55% of respondents said that they expect political violence to increase, while only 29% said that they expect political violence to decrease. Additionally, 50% of respondents said that they believe it is either somewhat likely (31%) or very likely (19%) that a political candidate will be assassinated within the next five years. Only 18% said that such an occurrence was somewhat unlikely (9%) or very unlikely (9%).

While a total of 24% of Americans polled replied that political violence can sometimes be justified, that share was even higher among young voters. Over a third of voters aged 18 to 24 (36%), 25 to 34 (35%), and 35 to 44 (34%) agreed that some circumstances justify political violence. In comments to The Washington Stand, Family Research Council Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview Joseph Backholm said, “The expectation of more political violence and the rising belief that it can be justified are largely connected. Unfortunately, growing secularism in the West has turned government into our God. Somehow, we see government as both the cause and the solution to all our problems.”

He explained, “Since the people are the government, we see those who enable government we dislike not as neighbors we disagree with but as the source of all our problems. Secularism provides both unreasonable expectations for the present and no reason for hope when our expectations are not met. When we believe certain individuals are the source of all the world’s problems, we can see why some people would come to believe a little violence is justified to bring about utopia.”

“People across the political spectrum all recognize the world is broken, but misunderstanding the source of the problem leads to solutions that actually make the problem worse,” Backholm continued. “The solution to all of it is understanding that God is God, not government. If we do that, we are much less likely to despair when government fails to solve all our problems.”

Although Politico noted that its survey found “little partisan divide in that belief,” much of the political violence seen in recent months has been perpetrated by left-wing actors. Last year, President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts, and this year has seen violence and rioting targeting federal immigration authorities, the murder of Turning Point USA founder and Trump administration ally Charlie Kirk, and Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virginia Jay Jones admitting to sharing text messages discussing killing a Republican opponent and his children. Trump administration officials have also been forced to live on military bases as progressive activists target them for harassment and death threats.

Shortly after Kirk’s murder in September, an Economist/YouGov survey found that one-third (33%) of Americans faulted the Left for the rise in political violence, while 29% said that the right-wing is responsible, and 24% blamed both Left and Right. Overall, 67% of respondents agreed that the country has become more politically divided over the last five years. Immediately following the first assassination attempt against Trump last year, an Unheard poll discovered that “one-third of Democrat respondents agreed with the statement, ‘I wish Trump’s assassin hadn’t missed.’” Likewise, a Napolitan News Service survey following the second assassination attempt against Trump found that over a quarter of Democrats said that the U.S. would be “better off” if Trump had been assassinated.

Backholm explained, “Political violence is more of a problem on the Left because leftism is inherently secular and therefore offers no hope when life isn’t going the way you prefer. Their worldview tells them sin isn’t a problem, everything bad is caused by systemic injustice, and government should be able to solve that problem if only the right people are in charge.” He continued, “When the plan doesn’t work, and things are going badly, they have no reason for hope. So when you despair, it’s normal to lash out violently against the people you blame for your problems unless you have a reason not to.”

“Faith in God, and the gospel specifically, gives people a reason to have hope despite bad circumstances,” Backholm emphasized. “It gives us a reason to forgive those who have wronged us and even work for their good. The gospel is inherently hopeful, but secularism is inherently despairing, which is why despair is more common on the Left. A world without God is very sad.”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Foreign Nationals Face Visa Loss for Mocking, Celebrating Charlie Kirk Assassination

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The U.S. State Department is taking the “America first” principle seriously and barring foreigners who celebrated the murder of an American patriot from entering the country.

Following the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last month, the State Department announced that it would begin canceling and revoking visas for foreign nationals who publicly mocked or celebrated Kirk’s death. On Tuesday, the Department asserted that it is following through on that pledge. “The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans,” the Department’s official social media page posted, along with a list of examples of foreigners whose visas have been canceled or revoked.

One Argentine national posted that Kirk “can rest in f****** piss,” adding, “i do not give a f*** about the death of a person who devoted his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric. It’s hot as f*** where this man currently is and it’s deserved.” Referring to the TPUSA event at a Utah college campus where Kirk was slain, a South African national whined that conservatives are “hurt that the racist rally ended in attempted martyrdom…” He continued, “Charlie Kirk won’t be remembered as a hero. He was used to astroturf a movement of white nationalist trailer trash!” A Mexican national said that Kirk died as a racist and misogynist, asserting that “there are people who deserve to die. There are people who would make the world better off dead.” A German national posted that “when fascists die, democrats don’t complain.” A Paraguayan national called Kirk a “son of a b****” who “died by his own rules.”

After each example shared, the State Department wrote, “Visa revoked.” The Department affirmed, “Aliens who take advantage of America’s hospitality while celebrating the assassination of our citizens will be removed.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, said, “Receiving or having a U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right. As the Biden years showed us, millions of people from all over the world want to come to the U.S. So, the U.S. can and should be very choosy about who gets to come here and to stay here.” Ries added, “Those who cheer the assassination of an American are not welcome in America and should have their visa revoked or denied. Good for the State Department for exercising this authority.”

Essica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told TWS, “There are a number of good reasons for the State Department to revoke these visas. First, these individuals are here at our discretion; they have no right to be here, and there are grounds for expelling them if they hold views that are hostile to our nation or to Americans.” She added, “Most importantly, the social media posts they wrote are hateful and potentially constitute a threat of violence toward Americans who expressed support for Charlie Kirk or horror at his assassination.” Vaughan continued, “I cannot imagine traveling to a foreign country and inserting myself in their political affairs like this, or expressing this kind of animosity toward the host citizens. In a lot of countries, this behavior would lead to imprisonment. We should just kick them out. They have crossed a line of acceptable behavior.”

The State Department also recently revoked the visas of at least 50 Mexican government officials, citing concerns over apparent ties to drug cartels. Former acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Derek Maltz told The Daily Wire, “Travel to America, the greatest country in the world, is a privilege, not a right. Travel visas for individuals are not automatic and I’m glad to see that the State Department is scrutinizing them at a new level.” He added, “Nobody should be surprised that this administration is looking outside the box and will use all capabilities to make it difficult for the cartels to continue to kill Americans at record levels.”

The move comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made public that Mexican drug cartels have placed bounties on the heads of DHS agents, especially Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and have enlisted street gangs in American cities like Chicago to track and attack ICE personnel. “These criminal networks are not just resisting the rule of law, they are waging an organized campaign of terror against the brave men and women who protect our borders and communities,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “Our agents are facing ambushes, drone surveillance, and death threats, all because they dare to enforce the laws passed by Congress. We will not back down from these threats, and every criminal, terrorist, and illegal alien will face American justice.”

According to DHS, Mexican cartels are offering $2,000 for doxing federal agents, $5,000 to $10,000 for kidnapping or assaulting agents, and up to $50,000 for the assassination of “high-ranking” DHS officials. Spotter networks have been set up in areas like Chicago’s Pilsen and Little Village, where armed gang members positioned on rooftops spy on and track the movements of ICE and other federal law enforcement agents, relaying information to other gang members and allies and coordinating ambushes. These attacks are bolstered by Antifa militants, who stage protests and riots and have attempted to use lethal force against ICE agents on numerous occasions.

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Political Violence Escalates as Rioters Target ICE Operations

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The domestic terrorist attack at a federal immigration facility in Texas Wednesday morning has only served to highlight the rash of political violence and civil unrest targeting President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda and the officers carrying it out.

Following the deadly shooting at a Dallas U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is increasing security at detention centers nationwide, in order to mitigate the risk of further terrorist attacks and loss of life. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to The Washington Stand, “In light of the horrific shooting that was motivated by hatred for ICE and the other unprecedented acts of violence against ICE law enforcement, including bomb threats, cars being used [as] weapons, rocks, and Molotov cocktails thrown at officers, and doxing online of officers’ families, DHS will immediately begin increasing security at ICE facilities across the country.” She added, “Our ICE officers are facing a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against them.”

McLaughlin pledged that DHS will also work to combat left-wing extremist groups like Antifa, which the president formally designated as a domestic terrorist organization this week. “Antifa and other left-wing extremists have shot, attacked, issued death threats against, and incited riots against law enforcement. Enough is enough: if you lay a hand on our federal law enforcement officers, you will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” McLaughlin said. “Antifa and their friends haven’t stopped us. They’re not even slowing us down,” she added. “Despite the 1,000% increase in assaults against them, our brave men and women in federal law enforcement are still on the ground, fighting every single day to uphold the rule of law and keep Americans safe from violent extremists and criminal illegal aliens alike.”

ICE currently operates 25 field offices specializing in enforcement and removal operations (EROs) and has a network of over 200 detention centers, including local jails, private prisons, and dedicated ICE facilities. Neither DHS nor ICE shared with The Washington Stand what increased security measures may look like nor how the agencies intend to combat Antifa and other left-wing rioters.

According to authorities, the shooter who targeted the Dallas ICE facility this week intended to kill ICE agents, although he accidentally shot and killed one detained immigrant and injured two others. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Nancy Larson reported that Joshua Jahn, the 29-year-old gunman suspected of firing on the ICE facility before taking his own life, left behind notes clarifying his intention to target and kill ICE personnel. “It seems that he did not intend to kill the detainees or harm them. It’s clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel,” she said in a press conference.

FBI Director Kash Patel shared, “One of the handwritten notes recovered read, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP [armor-piercing] rounds on that roof?’” Patel further warned that Jahn conducted a “high degree of pre-attack planning,” including using an app to track the movements and operations of ICE agents. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt faulted mainstream media outlets (namely, CNN) for promoting the ICE-tracking app. “Three months ago, CNN irresponsibly gave free publicity to an app that recklessly shares the location of ICE Agents. It has now been revealed the leftist lunatic shooter who opened fire on the Dallas ICE Facility was using one of these apps,” she wrote in a social media post. “The liberal media is complicit in the increased threats and violence against ICE.” The official X account for DHS echoed the sentiment, writing in a post, “These apps, and the media who is gleefully advertising them, represent an existential threat to our agents. It’s no different than giving a hitman the location of their intended target.”

Meanwhile, rioters are targeting ICE facilities in Chicago. ICE began conducting intensive immigration raids in and around Chicago recently, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) boats seen patrolling the Chicago River this week. In the Chicago suburb of Broadview, protestors have lined up outside an ICE detention facility and, on Friday, began rioting. As ICE agents attempted to leave the facility, activists started blocking and even physically attacking the law enforcement officers’ vehicles. Others called for ICE agents to be shot and killed, with one rioter shouting, “Shoot the f******! Shoot the f******!” Eventually, federal law enforcement agents had to fire “pepper balls” at the rioters in order to let the ICE vehicles pass and ICE agents have also begun deploying tear gas in order to disperse rioters.

Earlier this year, riots broke out in Los Angeles in response to ICE operations in the city, escalating to violent attacks on ICE agents and culminating in Trump federalizing California’s National Guard and deploying U.S. Marines to stop the rioting.

Despite agitation against interior deportation operations, the Trump administration is slated to become the first in history to achieve “operational control” of the nation’s borders. The term “operational control” was defined in the 2006 Secure Fence Act as “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.”

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and the current resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, argued that the Trump administration’s stringent border security efforts may just earn Trump the distinction of being the first president to achieve “operational control” under the terms of the Secure Fence Act. “If current trends continue, FY 2025 will be the most secure year in history at the U.S.-Mexico line, and DHS will achieve complete ‘operational control’ of our borders in FY 2026,” Arthur wrote, adding, “That’s a big ‘if,’ however, because the smugglers, while quiet for now, haven’t gone away.”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Poll Finds Rising Fears of Political Violence in the Aftermath of Kirk Assassination

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The shocking assassination of Christian and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, a devoted father and husband known for his biblical and conservative values, has left Americans reeling. The targeted killing has ignited widespread concern about escalating violence, with many fearing they could be next.

A recent poll underscored this growing unease, asking, “How concerned are you about left-wing extremism in the U.S.?” The results were telling: 61% of all participants expressed some level of concern, with 90% of Republicans, 56% of Independents, and even 38% of Democrats admitting worry about left-wing extremism.

To balance the perspective, the survey also posed the same question about right-wing extremism. The response was as follows: 69% of respondents expressed concern overall. But as Breitbart summarized, “Overall, 88 percent of Democrats are concerned about right-wing extremism despite the fact that recent acts of political violence have been at the hands of the radical left, while 57 percent of independents say the same. Only 34 percent of Republicans are concerned about right-wing violence.”

The poll delved deeper, asking, “Do you think most political violence in the U.S. is committed by people on the left or the right?” The results showed a divided nation: 33% attributed most political violence to the Left, 29% pointed to the Right, and 24% believed it is committed “equally” by both sides. When asked if the country was heading down the right track, 28% said it was “generally headed in the right direction,” while 64% said it was “off on the wrong track.” Only 8% said they were unsure. Republicans, however, were the most optimistic (61% said America was heading in the general right direction) with 96% of Democrats saying the country is going in the wrong direction. Regardless, 67% of all respondents believe the country has become more politically divided in the last five years.

These sobering statistics come in the wake of not only Charlie Kirk’s assassination but also a string of recent tragedies. Just weeks prior, Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed on a North Carolina light rail, high school students were gunned down in Colorado, and Catholic school children were targeted by a transgender-identifying gunman. These incidents have intensified fears of a society unraveling under the weight of ideological conflict.

And as Family Research Council’s Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, told The Washington Stand, “Secularism offers no hope when circumstances are not great.”

The world, he continued, doesn’t “have an eternity with God to look forward to once sin and death have been defeated. The best it offers is a utopia in this life once the right people are in control. If that’s not going well, despair often sets in.” In such turbulent times, Backholm stressed, “Placing your hope in the wrong things is a great way to be disappointed, and secularism requires us to place our hope in the wrong things — like politics.” Additionally, “when we don’t have a doctrine of sin that helps us understand why the world is broken and our own role in that, we just end up blaming our political opponents for everything wrong in the world, which sets us on a path of disdain and hatred.”

This toxic combination, Backholm noted, creates a fertile ground for violence. “[T]he combination of hate and despair that secularism logically leads to is a recipe for bad things,” he said. While not every secularist turns to violence, “violence is a logical outcome when things are not going well.” He reminded Christians of Jesus’s warning: “Jesus promised us that people would hate us for following Him.” Yet, he urged believers to ensure that any hatred directed at them stems from their faithful witness to truth, not from “behaving terribly.”

Despite the darkness of these times, Backholm emphasized the enduring hope of the gospel. “The gospel is inherently hopeful,” he said. Christians, he argued, do not deny the reality of evil but are called to confront it fearlessly as ambassadors of truth. “Our job is to limit the power and influence of evil by being ambassadors for the truth, but that does not mean we will escape the consequences of the spiritual war we live in,” he added.

From an eternal perspective, Backholm concluded, the cost of engaging in this spiritual battle is far outweighed by its significance. “We’ll recognize it’s far worse to be irrelevant to the battle between good and evil than to suffer the consequences of engaging in the battle,” he said. “When we obey, our joy will be made complete, like Jesus promised. But we are also assured that two things will happen: people will be drawn to Jesus, and the enemies of God will hate us for it. The more effective we are, the more they will hate us. Expect it, but don’t fear it.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

When the World Breaks Us, How Can We Cope?

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Oh, how precious life is, and how awful is the pain we endure. This broken world delivers blows that sometimes feel impossible to recover from. How do we cope when tragedy strikes? How do we find light when darkness seems to reign?

Twenty-four years ago, on September 11, 2001, terror tore through America’s soul. The skies burned, towers fell, and nearly 3,000 lives were stolen by hatred’s cruel hand. “Never forget,” we vowed, and how could we? That day carved scars into our collective spirit, reshaping our nation with grief and fear that still echo. We were attacked by external forces, by ideologies that sought to shatter our way of life. But now, as the wounds of Wednesday and recent weeks reveal, a more harrowing truth emerges: the attacks are also rising from within.

Charlie Kirk was more than a name. He was a devout follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Erika, a father to two young children. Through Turning Point USA, the organization he founded, he championed a simple yet profound idea: “When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts.” Charlie lived for open dialogue, for the fearless exchange of ideas, for truth pursued through reason and respect. I spent months watching his debates, captivated by his eloquence, his courage to engage any opponent, and his unapologetic love for God and country. He preached the gospel with a fire that stirred souls. And now, that voice has been silenced. Assassinated in front of thousands at Utah Valley University, Charlie’s life was stolen in a calculated act of evil. And it hurts.

Today, America weeps. Not only those who knew Charlie personally, but every heart that saw in him a man who stood for something greater, a man who did not deserve this fate. We grieve for his family, now navigating an unimaginable void. We grieve because this act open our eyes to the depths of evil in our midst.

This week, we lost Charlie Kirk to what Utah’s governor called a “political assassination.” In recent weeks, we’ve mourned Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee seeking a new life; children gunned down in a Colorado high school; young souls taken at a Catholic Mass in Minneapolis — all stolen by cold-blooded violence. The weight of these losses crushes us, forcing us to ask: How do we endure in a world so fractured, so stained by hate and violence?

1. This world is fallen, and pain is inevitable, but God understands suffering.

We stumble through a valley of tears, where pain is a relentless stalker. Yet we are not forsaken. God, who carried the cross, knows our torment. Jesus wept for Lazarus, bore the lash of betrayal, and drank the full cup of God’s wrath against sin. He is not a distant deity; He is near, catching every tear, feeling every wound. His scarred hands hold us. When the world’s brokenness threatens to drown us, we cling to the One who declares, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Our agony is not unseen; our pain is not without purpose.

Scripture is laden with proof that God understands our suffering with Jesus Himself being the greatest example, for “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). In John 15:18, Jesus also warned us, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

But 1 Peter 5:10 asks us to hold on, for “after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” And we can find comfort in the promise of Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

2. God can — and does — use tragedy for good.

In the chaos of Charlie’s assassination, as panic gripped and hope flickered, Joseph Backholm of Family Research Council asked God to use this for good. And you know what? He is.

People are falling to their knees in prayer. Souls who’ve never darkened a church’s door feel a pull to worship. I’ve seen hearts break open — people apologizing for venomous words hurled at Charlie, ashamed of their hatred. Some are abandoning ideologies soaked in malice, seeing them for the poison they are. Others are rising, vowing to carry the torch of truth, to marry and raise families rooted in faith, to use their voices to ignite courage in others. Christians, too, are shaking off their slumber, emboldened to stand unyielding in the face of evil.

I could never fully fathom why such heartbreak is allowed, why evil is permitted to wound so deeply. But I know this: God is good. No weapon formed against His purposes will prosper (Isaiah 54:17). As Charles Spurgeon so powerfully said, “I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the Rock of Ages.” I despise the pain we endure, but I praise a God rich in grace and mercy, who gives our suffering meaning — who gives us hope in life and death. He takes what evil intends for destruction and weaves it into redemption. As Genesis 50:20 declares, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”

“Where, o death, is your victory? Where, o grave, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

3. This broken world is not our home.

In response to Charlie’s death, many are saying they feel like they’ve lost a close friend or relative. But that isn’t shocking, right? I can’t speak for everyone who has been unjustly slain in the name of hatred, but I firmly believe that Charlie was a brother in Christ, which means a brother was taken from us. But do you know what else that means? Charlie is home now, wrapped in the arms of his Heavenly Father, having been welcomed with the words all believers long to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

As Christians, we view suffering through the lens of eternity. This world, with all its beauty and brokenness, is not our final destination. It is a fleeting shadow, a stepping stone to the glory awaiting us. Every trial we face, every tear we shed, carries eternal weight because we are running a race toward a finish line in heaven. Death does not have the final word. The pain we endure is no match for the blood of Christ. We have hope, now and forever, in His name, because He is the lamb who was slain for us. As Charlie posted days before his death, “Jesus defeated death so you can live.”

The late pastor John MacArthur once said, “The sting of death for the Christian? Gone! Christ has taken that sting for us, and death is now a welcome friend.” Dear reader, someday soon, we will be more alive than we ever were on this earth. We, too, will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We will see, before our very eyes, the reality of Revelation 21:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’”

Together, as one people united in Christ, we will live in the fulfillment of Revelation 22:

“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

Oh, weary soul, take heart. If you’re alive now, God is still using you — and right now counts forever until He calls you home. And before long, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

2 Ways the Left Encourages and Legitimizes Political Violence

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Shortly after Charlie Kirk took his dying breath, now-former MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd uttered the words on live cable TV that cost him his job, while also providing Americans with a chilling illustration of one of the most common ways the Left legitimizes and thereby encourages political violence against its opponents.

“He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that is the environment we are in. You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in,” Dowd declared in a conversation with MSNBC host Katy Tur (emphasis added).

Shortly after those comments were broadcast, MSNBC issued an apology, followed by Dowd’s termination.

Dowd began his career as a political strategist working for multiple Democrats, but he switched to the GOP to help President George W. Bush win re-election in 2004. More recently, Dowd returned to the Democratic Party and tangled with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) with remarks in 2019 for which he subsequently apologized.

Hate as a Label

To see how precisely Dowd captured one of the Left’s most terrifying convictions, re-read the italicized words in his statement. Note the progression: Hateful thoughts produce hateful words produce hateful actions. That progression has long been at the heart of the Left’s sabotage of the First Amendment’s guarantee of every American’s right to freedom of expression and opinion.

Here’s how they do it: Nobody questions that people can be prompted to act recklessly on what they hear. Crowds of Ku Klux Klansmen, for example, were indeed incited during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras by horrendously false accusations to lynch innocent black men.

What the Left does in this process is redefine what constitutes “hate speech” as anything espoused by those opposed to the Left. Thus, Matthew Dowd reframed Charlie Kirk’s message — about the love of Christ, the blessings of individual liberty, and the need for civil debate and tolerance of divergent views — as the worst hate speech that produces hateful, violent, actions. This is how Dowd comes to the position that Kirk’s speech brought on his own assassination. The assassin who pulled the trigger was merely responding to Kirk’s alleged provocation. Thus, the real perpetrator of political violence is actually the victim of hate speech by the Left’s opponents.

The Aggressor as Victim

The Matthew Dowds of the world can make such connections because they operate in the context of the Left’s mindless ideological obsession with identity politics, especially those rooted in critical theory. For example, Americans are constantly told by lawmakers on the Left, multicultural “experts” in academic and bureaucratic circles, and mainstream media talking heads that all American cultural, economic, legal, and political institutions are products of a deadly “white supremacy.”

Critical race theory (CRT) argues that America has been a racist society since before its inception; indeed, according to The New York Times and the 1619 Project, it is impossible to conceive of the present America without understanding that white supremacy and chattel slavery are the root of all the country’s major institutions and societal structures.

“The goal of The 1619 Project is to reframe American history by making explicit how slavery is the foundation on which the United States of America is built, and by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as the nation’s birth year,” according to the Times.

Note the qualifier, “reframe American history.” Several generations of American college graduates were thus filled with the CRT version of American history, and typically with no serious examination — that is, fact-based rather than ideology-based — of alternative analyses of the nation’s colonial roots, the Constitution, and the historical development since.

The drive for race-based “reparations” to black Americans for the sufferings of their enslaved ancestors is a direct product of the CRT view that everything about this country has been the result of the abuses by the white majority of the black slave populations and their descendants down to the present day.

A number of states, including California, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey, either presently have or are considering establishing official panels for exploring approaches to race-based reparations. Multiple cities have functioning reparations programs, including San Francisco, Palm Springs, Providence, Asheville, and Evanston. Benefits range from $25,000 for housing expenses and investments of tax funds to minority neighborhoods and businesses, to direct lump sum payments and targeted job opportunities.

But the vast majority of states and municipalities have no interest in establishing race-based reparations programs. How long before teams of screaming leftists point to the marked absence of reparations programs, condemn American society as irretrievably racist, and incite riots, insurrection, and mayhem in major cities across the country? When it happens, the Left will tell us all that it’s our fault, not that of the rioters.

Let us instead follow the example left by Charlie Kirk in his continuous civility and reasoned engagement with those who disagreed with him, as Scripture instructs us in 1 Peter 3:15: “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

AUTHOR

Mark Tapscott

Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Report: CCP-Linked Orgs Hold Vast Sway over Local Elections in NYC

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A new report has revealed that dozens of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-backed nonprofit organizations in New York City are illegally undermining local candidates for public office who support Taiwan and Hong Kong democracy and endorsing others who hold pro-CCP views. Experts say the Trump administration should take action to dissolve any organizations based in the U.S. that are linked to the communist regime.

The New York Times published an exposé Monday detailing how organizations known as “hometown associations,” which outwardly claim to serve as a kind of “heritage club” in cities with large populations of immigrants in order to “welcome newcomers, organize parades and foster social connections,” in reality have deep connections to the CCP via China’s consulate located in Midtown Manhattan. Some of these associations include the American Fujian Houyu Association, the American Jin Feng Federation, the Fujian Foundation in USA, the Wenshang Association, and the American Lianjiang Association, among many others.

CCP officials that work for the consulate have such an iron grip on the hometown associations that they have led dozens of ceremonies hosted by the associations, in which the members pledge oaths of loyalty to the “motherland,” recite vows to promote “reunification” with Taiwan, and sing “My Chinese Heart,” which the NYT notes is “a popular patriotic ballad in China.”

As the NYT discovered, consulate officials have also enlisted many of the hometown associations to undermine the political campaigns of multiple local candidates running for public office who hold views that are disfavored by the CCP, including supporting Taiwan’s independence, supporting democracy in Hong Kong, or criticizing the Xi Jinping regime.

In one instance, a hometown association leader helped to sabotage the congressional campaign of Yan Xiong, a U.S. citizen and retired Army chaplain, who planned to run in a district that included Chinatown, Manhattan, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Xiong had helped to lead the student protests in 1989 that led to the Tiananmen Square massacre, and had spent two years in a Beijing prison. Jimmy Cheng, who led the United Fujianese of America Association in New York City and claimed that he could deliver 3,000 votes to Xiong, “duped him into being photographed in front of a backdrop claiming he opposed the creation of a museum honoring Tiananmen Square victims.” CCP operatives then spread the photo on the internet, and Xiong ended up losing the primary.

In other instances, hometown associations helped to unseat a state senator as retribution for attending a banquet in honor of the president of Taiwan, and also spread photos on social media of a New York City Council candidate at a 2023 rally supporting the democracy movement in Hong Kong, which led to the candidate’s eventual loss after numerous hometown groups threw their support behind a pro-CCP candidate.

Meanwhile, at least nine hometown associations in NYC are also endorsing the reelection campaign of Mayor Eric Adams (D). As the NYT discovered, at least 19 out of 53 associations that have direct ties to the CCP are registered as charities and classify themselves as tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, while at the same time endorsing political candidates and hosting fundraisers for them. But experts like Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame, say that this is “a clear violation of the limits that Congress has put on their tax-exempt status.”

The hometown groups even hold influence over New York’s top elected official, Governor Kathy Hochul (D). As the NYT reported, the Asian American Community Empowerment nonprofit held a fundraiser for Hochul in December 2021. Two months later, Hochul “announced that $10 million in pandemic aid would be distributed to dozens of Asian groups,” including $45,000 for Asian American Community Empowerment.

Experts like Gordon Chang, who is an author and serves as a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, say that the Trump administration should take direct action to shut down any entity with clear ties to Xi Jinping’s communist regime.

“The Communist Party’s United Front Work Department has thoroughly infiltrated the Chinese-American community in New York,” he told The Washington Stand. “The CCP has, among other things, been illegally interfering in elections, corrupting politicians and others. This is the poisoning of our country.”

Chang continued, “The solution is clear: Close China’s New York consulate for continually violating our sovereignty, expel the diplomats stationed there, disband the ‘hometown associations’ and similar organizations, investigate the officers and employees of these groups, deport communist sympathizers who are not citizens, and break up the networks of China’s operatives and agents operating in our country.”

“Our enemies are here and operating openly,” he added. “We need, to borrow a CCP phrase, to ‘strike hard.’ This is our country. Why do we put up with this?”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.