Jayapal Ties Trumpian Rhetoric to Violent Threats Against US Lawmakers and Democracy

“We are at a precipice and we’re counting on the American people to come through—and I have hope that people will realize that we have to turn this clock back.”

That’s what U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told MSNBC‘s Ali Velshi Saturday in an interview about how rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and his political allies—including their “Big Lie” that the Democrats stole 2020 presidential election—connects to threats against both American democracy and individual lawmakers, including her.

The interview came just two days after Jayapal released audio of some threatening voicemails she has received and The Washington Post published a detailed account of her experience on July 9, when an armed man who lives just seven blocks away yelled obscenities outside her Seattle home. According to the newspaper, the police seized Brett Forsell’s pistol and he is now out on bail.

“This is not normal. We should not accept it as normal,” Jayapal said after Velshi aired some of the messages. “Where the hell are we as a country when this is becoming normalized? And so that’s part of the reason I did the story and that I released some of the voicemails—those are just a fraction of what we’ve received, along with death threats and many other things.”

“I think it’s important that people understand the connections between the Big Lie, January 6th, and what happened at my house, and see how these things are affecting each of us individually and then all of us as a society,” she continued, referencing when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol last year. “I wanted people to be aware of what we’re dealing with so that we can reject it and say we gotta put whatever has been unleashed back away and not allow this to be normal.”

Asked by Velshi how her experience with threats of violence has changed over the years, Jayapal responded that “it’s completely different over the last… four to five years—really since Donald Trump was in the White House and actually allowing and promoting this kind of violence and political rhetoric, racism, and sexism.”

“I think that what has changed is there’s a sense that everything is so unfair and Donald Trump has propelled it—the institutions are unfair—that the only recourse is to violence, and that is an extremely dangerous thing and we saw it come to fruition on January 6th, and now in ways that… I’ve seen outside my door, ” she added. “It is particularly bad if you’re a woman of color.”

Jayapal expressed hope for the future, highlighting that the voters rejected Trump-endorsed candidates—such as Sarah Palin, who just lost a special election in Alaska for an open U.S. House seat.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.