Eric Grittens, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate in Missouri, released a new violent political ad Monday showing himself pulling a rifle and accompanying a team of men armed with assault rifles as they stormed a SWAT-style home in search of “RINOs” or Republicans by name only.
“Join the MAGA crew,” Mr Greytens, a former naval seal, said in the ad. “Get a RINO hunting permit. There is no baggage limit, no marking limit and it doesn’t expire until we save our country. “
Mr Greytens’ advertisement was only the latest, but perhaps the most threatening, in a long line of Republican campaign advertisements, including firearms and seeking to equate hardline conservatism with the use of deadly weapons.
During a hearing by the committee on Thursday, J. Michael Lutig, a former federal judge widely respected by the Conservatives, suggested that Mr Trump and his allies posed a “clear and present threat to American democracy”.
The use of violent rhetoric has steadily increased in Republican circles in recent months as threats and aggressive insults have become more common in community meeting rooms, congressional offices and during the campaign.
While much of the violent speech and image-making by Republicans is aimed at Democrats, some, as in Mr. Greytens’ advertisement, is aimed at party members who are considered insufficiently conservative.
On Sunday, spokesman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois and a member of the commission on January 6, published a letter addressed to his wife by someone who threatened to execute the couple.
Mr Greytens’ campaign did not apologize for Monday’s new ad. “If someone doesn’t understand the metaphor, he’s either lying or dumb,” said Dylan Johnson, campaign manager.
Mr. Greytens, a former Missouri governor ,’s ad comes as his Senate campaign stumbles over sinister accusations of extortion, sexual abuse and child abuse. In March, Mr Greytens’ ex-wife, Sheena Greytens, accused him of abuse, including an incident she described in which one of their son’s teeth chattered. A number of Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, then called on Mr. Greytens to leave the race.
Mr Greitens has sought Mr Trump’s approval, but to no avail. The chairman of his campaign is Kimberly Guilfoil, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr.
Experts warn that violent rhetoric can often lead to real physical violence.
“When people feel more confident and legitimate in expressing violent feelings, it can encourage others to feel more confident in facilitating actual violence,” said Robert Pape, who studies political violence at the University of Chicago. “Unfortunately, this is a self-reinforcing spiral.”
Some Republicans criticized Mr. Greytens for publishing the ad.
“Every Republican must condemn this sick and dangerous advertisement of Eric Grittens,” Barbara Comstock, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia, said Monday. “This is just a taste of the ‘obvious and present danger’ that Judge Lutig spoke about last week.”
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