They’re Not Saying Someone Should Kill Trump. But They’re Coming Close.
“Somebody should do it” and its variants have become increasingly popular online memes.
Growing up in the Cold War, every American understood that the idea of assassinating a president wasn't just illegal—it was unthinkable, a taboo that anchored the entire democratic experiment. That was then. A recent piece by the *Washington Post* investigating a disturbing trend on the Left is headlined: “They’re not saying someone should kill Trump. But they’re coming close.” The article details the meteoric rise of the meme “somebody should do it” a wink-and-nod call for the assassination of a sitting president under the flimsy guise of a joke. The fact that we’re having this conversation at all shows how dangerously far the acceptance of political violence has crept into the mainstream.
The Nudge and the Wink
The Post front-loads the most glaring example of this moral rot. Peyton Vanest, a 27-year-old progressive influencer, didn’t just mutter into the void; he weaponized the ambiguity of Big Tech algorithms to rack up millions of views on a video where he conspicuously refuses to define what “it” is. “Somebody should, you know?” he smirked. “If somebody knew what needed to be done, that person should probably just do it …” He didn't say “kill the president.” He didn’t have to. The clip, a 62-second exercise in plausible deniability, exploded to over 3.2 million views on TikTok, with commenters replying, “Crazy how we all know exactly what you’re talking about.”
This is the linguistic safe zone the Left has built for itself. By staying just vague enough to avoid a visit from the Secret Service, they can peddle assassination fantasies and label them as “venting.” Vanest’s defense—that he was just expressing “frustration”—is the standard playbook. But when “venting” takes the specific shape of a mob whispering, “Gee, if only *something* would happen to him,” it crosses the line from catharsis to stochastic terrorism. There is no other interpretation. We’re talking about a president who has already been the target of multiple real-world plots. When a digital mob of millions starts winking about finishing the job, it looks less like a joke and more like a directive.
It’s not just fringe TikTokers, either. Star Wars actor Mark Hamill posted an AI-generated image of Donald Trump lying in a shallow grave, complete with a tombstone and the caption “If Only.” And when the White House called him a “sick individual,” Hamill issued one of those classic non-apology apologies. He wasn’t sorry he insinuated the president should be dead; he was sorry people were “too sensitive” to appreciate his artistic vision of a political murder. This is the same Hollywood elite that lectures America about tolerance and kindness.
Blood in the Digital Water
After the Post piece was published, the digital games turned into a tangible nightmare. Just weeks before the Post sounded the alarm, an individual named Cole Tomas Allen was arrested for attempting to storm the White House Correspondents' Dinner with the alleged goal of assassinating President Trump. He has since been charged with attempted assassination of the president, among other federal crimes.
When actual blood is nearly spilled, the Left’s response is a masterclass in gaslighting. According to one analysis, roughly one in five left-wing and liberal influencers immediately pushed the conspiracy theory that the assassination attempt was a “false flag” or “hoax”. Think about that: a man tries to kill the president, and the reflexive reaction of a significant chunk of the Left is not to condemn political violence, but to deny it even happened or to blame the victim. When reality pierces the bubble, they simply construct a new reality where they remain the heroes and the president remains a fair target.
Republican leaders see a direct causal arrow being drawn from the digital world to the physical one. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville penned a stark warning in Breitbart, arguing: "Political violence has become a core pillar of what the Democratic Party stands for... An uncomfortably large number of Democrats now think it is okay to murder someone you disagree with politically." This isn’t hyperbole. Tuberville connected the dots from the dehumanizing rhetoric of mainstream Democrats calling Trump a “fascist,” a “threat to democracy,” or a “wannabe Hitler” to the radicalization of people like Allen, who was allegedly “indoctrinated … by mainstream Democrat politicians, CNN, and MSNBC”. You can’t spend a decade telling the country that a president is literally Hitler and then act surprised when someone decides it’s time to act on that information.
Adding to the nihilism is the role of journalists who platform this content. Taylor Lorenz, formerly of the Washington Post, reported on the “Somebody Needs to Do It” meme with a tone bordering on anthropological curiosity rather than outright condemnation, even noting on a podcast that "assassinating the president" posts "get millions of likes; it is a very popular thing". When the media treats an assassination meme as just another fascinating Gen Z trend rather than a profound civic emergency, they allow it to metastasize.
The "Just a Joke" Hypocrisy
Your article must now confront the central conservative thesis: Conservatives have been rightly pilloried for years over "eliminationist rhetoric." If Paul Gosar posts an anime video, it’s a "call for violence." Yet when progressives post an actual coffin with a president’s name on it, it’s an abstract expression of anger. The Post article itself carries the tone of a culture critic examining "morbid jokes" not an alarm bell about a radicalized base.
The Left’s justification is always that they are "punching up" against "actual violence". This is morally bankrupt logic. Assassination is the ultimate act of political silencing. It’s "punching down" against the democratic process itself.
To apply the conservative fairness test, simply invert the target. If a MAGA influencer posted a video saying, “Somebody should do it,” regarding a Democratic president, the *Washington Post* wouldn’t write a headline about "jokes." The headline would be: “Fascists Call for Murder.” That entire activist would be de-platformed, subpoenaed, and paraded on cable news as the face of Right-wing terror.
Immediately after the Post piece dropped, the internet lit up with echoes. A clip from conservative radio’s Newstalk ZB simply shook its head, noting most still characterized their posts as mere "outlets for rage" against the administration while admitting the severe threat they pose. On the blog Just Plain Politics, the reaction was far more visceral: "Stop trying to kill our president," the author fumed, pointing to three real-life attempts to end Trump’s life as evidence that "you ass wipes" had completely normalized the concept. And in the German press, an analysis in *Watson* titled "Subtle Calls for Murder Against Trump Go Viral in the USA" recognized that the deliberate ambiguity is exactly the danger: it works as an inside joke for initiates while allowing authors to claim they meant nothing concrete.
But for the most honest take, look to the Free Republic, where one user astutely noted, “In short, leftists on TikTok have normalized assassination talk. Do they mean it? The Post interviewed six people… at least one said she hoped someone would really do it.” There it is.
A Republic, If You Can Keep It
There is a sublime irony here. The same voices deliberately planting the meme of assassination also claim to be defending "democracy" from an "authoritarian." If you have convinced yourself that a democratically elected president is an existential threat to humanity, why wouldn't you mock a potential bullet? It’s a fanatical logic, and it’s spreading.
The Washington Post published the headline. They see the fire. But it’s not an article of condemnation it’s an article of clinical observation. And that’s the tragedy. When phrases like "Somebody should do it" are analyzed like pop culture artifacts rather than rejected as the language of political terror, we inch closer to the cliff.
The Constitution provides a peaceful mechanism for removing a president: the ballot box. If Donald Trump is as horrifying as the Left claims, his political defeat should be elementary. But they lost elections, so now they apparently want someone else to "do it." That isn't venting. That’s the blueprint for a banana republic. The Post is finally asking the question; it’s time for the Left to look in the mirror and answer it honestly: Is a nation of laws worth preserving, or will you burn it all down for upvotes and a retweet from Mark Hamill?
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