Inflammatory discourse has consequences and Donald Trump was almost assassinated as a result - Bill Carmichael

Have you guessed who it is yet? You would be forgiven for thinking that such unhinged ranting could only come from the mind of a master satirist, such as Ben Elton who penned the 1980s TV comedy series The Young Ones.

The quotes above bring to mind the character of Rick, the radical sociology student and self-proclaimed anarchist in the series, played by Rik Mayall, who delighted in screaming that pretty much everyone he disagreed with was a “fascist” or a “Nazi”.

But no, sadly this isn’t satire. The quotes above come from - and honestly I can barely believe I am typing these words - not from idiotic, attention seeking, self indulgent Rick, but from the current holder of one of the great offices of state, His Majesty’s Foreign Secretary.

Yes indeed, David Lammy, who would be laughed out of any half decent sixth form debating society, is now in charge of the sensitive and vitally important matter of Britain’s foreign and diplomatic policy. And if that doesn’t scare you witless, nothing will.

Foreign Office diplomats will have to work extra hard to ensure that the grandstanding of Mr Lammy doesn't damage the “special relationship” with our most powerful ally too seriously. But Trump strikes me as a thin skinned man who won’t forget such juvenile abuse too easily, and someone who is one more than happy to nurture a grudge to the UK’s detriment.

Lammy isn’t alone, but is merely symptomatic of the coarsening and dumbing down of political discourse across the West. Instead of engaging and trying to understand your opponents’ point of view, the trend today is to yell abuse and end the discussion.

Opinions that would have seemed manifestly commonsensical just a decade ago - that a country has the right to control its borders; that only women give birth; that only men have penises - will today have you condemned as a ‘bigot’, a ‘Nazi’, a ‘fascist’, and ‘worse than Hitler’ in the blink of an eye.

My usual response to this is a massive involuntary eye-roll, while muttering: ‘Go and read a history book if you want to know what actual fascists and Nazis did within living memory’.

But this inflammatory discourse is more than just silly. It has real world consequences - as our friends in the USA discovered this week.

For months the Democrats have dehumanised Donald Trump, dubbing him an existential threat to American democracy, a would-be tyrant, a despot, a modern day Hitler etc.

Now, we don’t yet know the full motives of the shooter who tried to assassinate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last weekend, but is it any wonder that some impressionable people take the Democrats at their word?

If Trump is really a threat to American democracy as the Democrats say he is, then these poor deluded people will conclude it is their patriotic duty to try to kill him.

I am no supporter of Mr Trump. I have serious concerns about his ambivalence towards Nato and the defence of Ukraine. But to call him a fascist and compare him to Hitler is frankly preposterous.

The Democrats are now frantically backpedalling, toning down the divisive rhetoric and pulling attack ads. President Joe Biden admitted this week that it was a mistake for him to say it was time “to put Trump in a bullseye” days before the shooting.

I hope it is not too late and some calmness and civility can be established in the Presidential campaign. This matters to all of us because regardless of who wins the election in November, we will look to the US to take the lead in the fight against the malign influence of Russia, China, Iran and its terrorist proxies, such as Hamas.

I shudder to think of what would have happened if the shot that shattered Trump’s ear had been half an inch more accurate. It is probably little exaggeration to say that America could have faced something approaching a new civil war, with disastrous consequences for the entire free world.

On July 13 it wasn’t just Donald Trump who dodged a bullet - we all did.