Donald Trump was on 60 Minutes the day after a lone gunman tried to break through security barriers to have him and/or members of his cabinet killed. In that interview, he praised the police, verbally attacked Nora O’Donnell and mentioned that political violence has always been around.

And he was right. At least about political violence always being around.

I was in second grade when JFK was assassinated. I can still recall Mrs. Cusak’s tears when we heard the news over the intercom.

A few years later, when I began paying attention to the news, I started hearing conspiracy theories on who some thought really killed JFK. Depending on who you believed it was either the CIA, the mob, Cuba, LBJ, or even Ted Cruz or Woody Harrelson’s father.

I broadcast from the Grassy Knoll on the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s death and those conspiracy theories were still alive and well.

I have no doubt that conspiracy theories started right after the first politically violent attack.

Minutes or maybe even seconds after the news broke of the attempt on the President’s life, the internet was abuzz with wannabe Sherlock Holmes who don’t trust the president and were sure it was staged.

Videos started popping up of the president’s spokesperson, where she said that “shots were going to be fired” during the president’s speech. It was assumed the president would continue his attacks on the free press at the dinner, so was that just an unfortunate choice of words, or did she know something and was foreshadowing?

Who knows?

It won’t matter; people are going to believe what they want to believe.

But it didn’t take long before my friends who are Trump supporters started posting that it was the Democrats and liberals who did it. At the time, we had no idea if that gunman was some liberal going after the president, or was a far-right radical going after the quote-unquote, “fake news”.

But that didn’t matter. Why wait for the facts when you can use the tragedy to advance your political agenda?

When the evidence showed it was indeed someone going after the president, I saw many of his supporters online, almost gleeful that they could blame the “loony left.”

It was almost like they were doing a victory dance. It didn’t matter; there is plenty of evidence that political violence comes from all across the political spectrum.

People will believe what they want to believe.

Now, Cole Allen doesn’t represent all Democrats and Liberals any more than the January 6th rioters represent all Republicans and Conservatives.

He is an angry, mentally disturbed man who wrote a rambling, disjointed manifesto before he made his assassination attempt. He is not representative of all liberals, no matter what you read on Facebook or Truth Social.

For years, the NRA made the argument that we needed the Second Amendment to protect against a tyrannical government. Was Cole Allen influenced by that rhetoric?

Who knows?

And that’s part of the problem. In the internet age, many people don’t know what to believe anymore. Or it might be more accurate to say they believe what they want to believe, no matter what the facts are.

And with social media and artificial intelligence, it’s getting much harder to get to the truth.

The White House Correspondence Dinner is to celebrate the First Amendment. Unfortunately, the First Amendment also protects those who would spread rumors and lies like they are the gospel. The First Amendment not only protects journalists, but it also protects those who would profit from inflammatory memes that work to promote division in this country.

President Trump was right when he said that this country has always had political violence. But we haven’t always had the internet.

I’ve often said that social media is a tool. And just like a hammer, it can be used to build or destroy.

Just because we’ve always had political violence doesn’t mean it has to continue. President Trump admitted he was at that dinner Saturday night to attack the media, not to enjoy an evening with those who work to keep a watchful eye on our government’s activities.

President Trump was right when he said political violence has always been with us.

I hope he was just citing a historical fact and not justifying it as a fact of life.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.