Letters to the Editor | April 29, 2026

Why, in a democracy, where we can vote our leaders in or out of office and change public policy at the ballot box or through the courts, does political violence abound?

After the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy in the 1960s, I was peppered with that question on a trip to Africa.

South African exiles living in Zambia, who sought a peaceful means to replace their apartheid government of white minority rule with majority rule, wanted me to explain why the turn to political violence in America.

I had no answer then, and I have no answer today, as we try to process yet another assassination attempt, the third targeting President Donald Trump.

Trump might have used his news conference after the attack to denounce political violence. But then he would have had to wrestle with the political violence he himself set in motion on Jan. 6, 2021.

Instead, Trump boasted that only “impactful people” become targets of assassination. In Trump’s telling, being an American president who was targeted by an assassin was a badge of honor, not a national disgrace.

Huntly Collins, Philadelphia

The writer is a former journalist at The Inquirer.

Dana Bash, a news correspondent with CNN, received backlash from many when she asked Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin if criticism of the president on the left might be responsible for the recent attack at the White House correspondents’ dinner. Raskin rightfully distinguished between criticism of the White House’s policies and meaningless rhetoric. Others jumped in to defend the democratic right to criticize this administration. The facts are that most Americans are angry every day with Donald Trump. Polls frequently show him with the lowest approval ratings for presidents in modern American history. Broken promises, constant lies, financial corruption, unlawful use of power, lack of transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein files, hateful rhetoric against people of color, immigrants, trans people, liberals, women — all these exacerbate the irreconcilable divide in our country. Even the religious community has been deeply offended by this president and has spoken out. Political violence has spiked since 2024, and, of course, there is still no gun control. Most of us are fighting back with peaceful protests and monetary contributions to our candidates. Unfortunately, the deranged will take it a step further with violence, which is never an acceptable response. We need to take measures to protect everyone, but place the blame where it belongs. We have a president and an administration that incite fury in their citizens with their policies, actions, and rhetoric. We have Republicans in Congress who refuse to hold Trump accountable. Feelings of helplessness and despair are rampant.

Sandra Detweiler, West Chester

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