This interview aired in the July 17, 2024 episode of Crosscurrents
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Long before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last weekend, the level of political anxiety in the country, specifically concerns about political violence has been rising as the nation prepares to go to the polls this fall.
The elevated political rhetoric and threat of widespread violence in the lead up to this fall's presidential elections reminds some scholars of another inflection point, the bloody year of 1968. That year began with the nation mired in war, then shaken by the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. That year saw racial and social strife across the country. Then, a beleaguered President Lyndon Johnson gave way to Richard Nixon the following year.
Dr. David McCuan is a political science professor at Sonoma State University, where he has taught for more than 20 years, and a scholar on American politics. He has been studying recent political trends within the national electorate as the nation heads to the polls to elect a President in November.
I spoke to McCuan about the increase in violent political rhetoric and the rise in social anxiety many Americans are feeling.
