COMMENTARY When Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. leaders hurl partisan blame for political violence like Colombia's, it only encourages reckless responses to violence like Minnesota's.
As Secretary of State, Marco Rubio should understand that the way America responds to political violence abroad can affect the way America responds to political violence at home.
Which is why, as Americans try to make sense of the senseless assassination of Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband last Saturday, we鈥檇 do well to recall the horrific attempted assassination Colombians are trying to process.
Doctors say conservative Colombian Senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe remains in 鈥渆xtremely critical condition鈥� after a 15-year-old kid allegedly shot him in the head at a political event in Bogot谩 on June 7.
Colombian police still haven鈥檛 said what motive or conspiracy was behind Uribe鈥檚 shooting. But that, of course, hasn't stopped conservative politicians there from hurling rash political blame.
READ MORE: Will Marco Rubio bring Marconsistency or Rubiocrisy to Latin America?
I鈥檓 no fan of Colombia鈥檚 feckless leftist president, Gustavo Petro; in the past I too have lambasted his erratic rhetoric.
Still, it was over-the-top disgraceful when reactionary Sen. Mar铆a Fernanda Cabal called the Uribe crime 鈥渁 consequence of the atmosphere of hate that Petro has promoted.鈥� It was deplorable when right-wing presidential candidate Vicky D谩vila accused Petro of being 鈥渢he instigator.鈥�
But it was just as distressing 鈥� if not more so 鈥� when conservative U.S. politicians like Rubio politicized the Colombian tragedy.
Uribe had barely been wheeled into a Bogot谩 emergency room before the Secretary of State issued his own blame blast at Petro and Colombia鈥檚 left:
鈥淭his,鈥� Rubio declared on X, 鈥渋s ... the result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government.鈥�
Who鈥檚 to say Rubio鈥檚 sprint to assign partisan culpability in the Colombia shooting didn鈥檛 influence Lee's appalling tweets about the Minnesota shootings?
There are two things really wrong with Rubio鈥檚 knee jerk reaction 鈥� and they involve not just the Colombia shooting but the Minnesota murders, too.
First, I expected America鈥檚 top diplomat to have a more statesmanlike understanding of Colombia and its history.
The country鈥檚 been plagued by polarized, conservative-liberal political bloodshed ever since it became a republic in the 19th century. Anyone who鈥檚 watched One Hundred Years of Solitude on Netflix this year understands that. And both right and left have been responsible for it.
COVID conspiracies
Right-wingers spit just as much partisan venom around Colombia as left-wingers do. During the COVID pandemic, Cabal asserted the deadly virus was communist China鈥檚 scheme to help liberals undermine Colombia鈥檚 then conservative government. And just as many, if not more, liberal political candidates have been assassinated there through the years as conservative pols have.
So to single out 鈥渓eftist rhetoric鈥� as the sole villain of Colombia鈥檚 trauma 鈥� and to finger Petro for an attempted slaying 鈥� is as flawed as it is reckless.
What鈥檚 more, I don鈥檛 recall Rubio, when he was a Republican U.S. Senator, censuring violent right-wing rhetoric in Colombia amid an alarming wave of killings of liberal activists during the conservative presidency of Petro鈥檚 predecessor, Iv谩n Duque. And that kind of hypocrisy 鈥� or Rubiocrisy 鈥� threatens to reduce America鈥檚 diplomatic credibility in the Americas.
But it sets a foul example inside America, too.
I don鈥檛 know if GOP Utah Sen. Mike Lee follows Latin American affairs. But who鈥檚 to say Rubio鈥檚 sprint to assign partisan culpability in the Colombia shooting didn鈥檛 influence Lee to take to X himself last weekend?
Lee falsely labeled the alleged Minnesota assassin a 鈥渞adical leftist鈥� ( Vance Boelter is a far-right Christian nationalist) then glibly claimed: 鈥淭his is what happens when Marxists don鈥檛 get their way.鈥�
Others, like billionaire Elon Musk, followed suit. Lee later deleted his appalling tweets about the murders in Minnesota and the two other non-fatal political shootings committed there on Saturday. But the damage of that toxic social media reflex was already done.
I鈥檇 say the same about any Democratic or liberal U.S. senator who calls the Hortman assassinations the fault of Republicans, conservatives or President Trump.
That wouldn鈥檛 be much different than howling that Democrats, liberals and former President Biden have to answer for, let鈥檚 say, last December鈥檚 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione, who was furious at healthcare industry injustices.
Statistically, America鈥檚 political violence isn鈥檛 as frightening as it is in countries like Colombia 鈥� last year鈥檚 two assassination attempts on Trump notwithstanding.
But where we鈥檙e matching places like Colombia is in our irresponsible reaction to the violence.
Which only risks ramping up the violence itself.
