Kurt Braddock, American University School of Communication
Words have consequences. And decades of research supports the contention that Donald Trump’s words could in fact incite people to mount an insurrection at the US Capitol.
The US faces many of the same problems Germans faced after World War II: how to reject, punish and delegitimize the enemies of democracy. There are lessons in how Germany handled that challenge.
Millions of supporters of Donald Trump flocked to the far-right social media platform, where hate speech and calls for violence thrive. The US Capitol insurrection could be the platform’s undoing.
Freedom of speech emerged as a concept after the invention of the printing press, and that’s worth revisiting in the context of social media and Trump’s presidency.
As the raid on the U.S. Capitol has shown, some kinds of rhetoric can set fire to the world — and it exists in Canada, too. Here’s how to tamp it down and focus on positive forms of rhetoric.
Removing Trump from office in nine days is virtually impossible. Congress can impeach now and try him later, but this could distract from President-elect Joe Biden’s all-important first 100 days.
Calls have emerged from many sources for Congress or the Cabinet to remove Trump from office in the wake of the U.S. Capitol incursion Jan. 6. Who could act, and what could they do?
Rather than denigrating other nations as banana republics for their penchant for insurrections and lawless coups, the United States needs to take a long look inward following the raid on the Capitol.
When supporters of Donald Trump stormed into the US Capitol in Washington, it wasn’t the first time this had happened. The last time was during a British invasion in 1814.
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney