On Thursday’s Chris Jansing Reports, MSNBC’s The Weekend co-host Jonathan Capehart implicitly blamed (who else) President Trump for not lowering Americans’ fear of future political violence, despite most of the violence coming from the left. The segment was based on a poll conducted by Politico published on Monday.
Chris Jansing highlighted three key stats from the poll: 55 percent expected politically motivated violence in the U.S. to increase; 50 percent believed it to be very/somewhat likely that a political candidate would get assassinated in the next 5 years; and 24 percent believed there were some instances where violence was justified.
After acknowledging the obvious elephant in the room (that Trump was a two-time assassination target during his 2024 campaign), Capehart whined, “… it would be great if we had senior politicians who would instead of fan the flames when there are situations of political violence, step forward and say, ‘This is not who we should be. We should appeal to our better angels.’”
Back in September during the aftermath Charlie Kirk’s murder, left-wing television pundits criticized Trump for not being a “consoler-in-chief.” Capehart returned to that theme:
But, right now, we're in a moment in our country where we don't have the senior leadership, and I'll just be perfectly blunt, we do not have a President of the United States who models the behavior that we had grown used to with his predecessors. When big things happen, it's the President of the United States we turn to for, “How do we think? How do we behave in this moment as a nation?”
So, according to Capehart, Trump should be held accountable for the nation’s fear of violent acts instead of, you know, those who incite and/or directly enact said evil.
Touching on the big story of the day, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) retirement announcement, Jansing featured a clip of Fox News’ Peter Doocy reciting Trump’s reaction and mentioned, “…that there are other Republicans who had nasty things to say about Nancy Pelosi. And I should also say vitriol is not limited to one side of […] the aisle or one political persuasion.”
You don’t say, Chris. It was only days prior that Pelosi called Trump a “vile creature” and “the worst thing on the face of the Earth” during an interview with CNN. And don’t forget, Virginia Democrats just elected someone who fantasized about killing a Republican and his children. What was his name again?
Capehart reiterated his point of Trump being responsible for keeping America on edge:
President of the United States calling a former Speaker of the House ‘evil,’ not even showing any grace, that's not how you lower the temperature. That's not how you allay people’s concerns about the political climate in this country.
Then what’s the solution, Jon? If Trump started playing nice all the time, would the left suddenly not hate him in return? That doesn’t seem realistic.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" read:
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports
November 6, 2025
1:41:40 p.m. EST
(…)
CHRIS JANSING: There's a Politco poll, actually, just out this week. It shows 55 percent of Americans expect political violence in the U.S. to increase. 50 percent believe it is very or somewhat likely that a political candidate gets assassinated in the next five years. And perhaps equally or more disturbing, 24 percent believe there are some instances where violence is justified. What do we do about that? What’s a politician, especially — and I don't think it's exclusive to this — but if you have a family, you've got kids, what do we do?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, the 24 percent who think that violence is okay, or whatever that last number —
JANSING: Yeah.
CAPEHART: — you showed, the only thing —
JANSING: Is justified sometimes.
CAPEHART: — Right, “is justified.” The only thing that gives me solace is that that number has not changed from previous polls. What is concerning are the previous numbers you just showed. The expectations that people have that violence will be visited upon a politician and upon the nation through a political assassination, those numbers are concerning.
But also, given what we have seen in the last couple of years, two attempted assassinations of then-candidate Trump — actually twice as candidate running for reelection, Donald Trump — the killing of Charlie Kirk, these are, these were attempts and an assassination that shocked the conscience, really makes people feel uncomfortable and concerned — uncomfortable is not even strong enough word — concerned about where we're going as a country.
And, you know, it would be great if we had senior politicians who would instead of fan the flames when there are situations of political violence, step forward and say, “This is not who we should be. We should appeal to our better angels.” And I should not forget about the assassinations of the Minnesota state lawmakers —
JANSING: That’s right.
CAPEHART: — and others in recent years. But, right now, we're in a moment in our country where we don't have the senior leadership, and I'll just be perfectly blunt, we do not have a President of the United States who models the behavior that we had grown used to with his predecessors. When big things happen, it's the President of the United States we turn to for, “How do we think? How do we behave in this moment as a nation?” And if we're gonna get those numbers down, the 52 percent and 55 percent down, it's incumbent upon senior U.S. leaders when we get into those situations to model the behavior of what it means to lead all of the country.
JANSING: I might expand that to anybody who has a public forum —
CAPEHART: Well, right. Exactly.
JANSING: I want you to listen to what President Trump had to say about Nancy Pelosi. This is Fox News' Peter Doocy quoting the President after he spoke to him.
[Cuts to clip]
PETER DOOCY [on America’s Newsroom, 11/06/25]: The retirement of Nancy Pelosi is a great thing for America. She was evil, corrupt, and only focused on bad things for our country.
[Cuts back to live]
JANSING: I mean, considering the poll numbers that I just shared — and I should say that there are other Republicans who had nasty things to say about Nancy Pelosi. And I should also say vitriol is not limited to one side of —
CAPEHART: Sure.
JANSING: — the aisle or one political persuasion. But I wonder if it has become just so much noise, we've become used to it, or is Congressman Golden and others right about the destructive nature and what it leads to?
CAPEHART: Yes. Yes, they are right. And actually, I'm glad, I had not heard about the President and his and his remarks to Mr. Doocy. I mean, it just amplified what I was saying earlier. President of the United States calling a former Speaker of the House “evil,” not even showing any grace, that's not how you lower the temperature. That's not how you allay people’s concerns about the political climate in this country.
(…)
