The last few years have witnessed the rise of the notion of “stochastic terrorism.” The idea is that bad actors use language, or even vague or coded language, to foster a pervasive climate of hate. This climate of hate then encourages other bad actors to engage in acts of violence against the targets of this hate. Stochastic terrorism is not quite incitement, as there is no direct connection between the speaker and the actor, and because the language is indirect enough to create plausible deniability, but the effect is the same.

The sudden rise in the popular use of stochastic terrorism is no coincidence. The Left and its allies have weaponized this abstruse concept as a vehicle for delegitimizing its opposition. For instance, any criticism of the LGBTQ community, however mild, reasoned, or legitimate, is denounced as stochastic terrorism. Criticism creates an atmosphere of hate, we are told, and the atmosphere of hate encourages others to commit acts of violence against the members of that community. The next step in the argument is to demand the suppression of any criticism of the LGBTQ community collectively, or of any individual who identifies with that community. Speech is, quite literally, violence.

We saw the doctrine of stochastic terrorism trotted out constantly in the aftermath of the events of January 6, 2021. Mother Jones, for instance, breathlessly intoned that President Trump had “unleashed a domestic terrorist movement.” That long-form piece used the phrase “stochastic terrorism” twice, and described the concept in some detail for its readers. The piece’s thesis is that on January 6, President Trump indirectly encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol by talking about the supposed nefarious doings of the 2020 election. He didn’t have to tell them to storm the Capitol—all he had to do was claim that the election was rigged, and that the people inside the Capitol were thwarting the will of the people. The crowd put the pieces together and acted accordingly.

Fast forward three-and-a-half years. At about 6:15 p.m. on July 13, 2024, someone unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate former President Trump. Mr. Trump survived and, according to the Secret Service, the shooter was killed. For the first time since John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan in 1981, a would-be assassin drew blood from a President of the United States. Trump is also the first presidential candidate involved in an assassination attempt since Sirhan Sirhan murdered Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

As I write this, we don’t know many details about the shooter or the shooting. What were his motives? Was he sane? Was he acting alone? How did this happen? Presumably all this will be revealed in the coming days, but in truth it doesn’t really matter. Even if he was acting formally alone, he wasn’t truly acting alone. For nearly a decade the Left, the oligarchs, and their allies have engaged in a campaign of stochastic terrorism against Donald Trump. Ever since Trump descended the golden escalator, they have fostered a pervasive climate of hate designed to depict Trump as a uniquely existential threat to “Our Democracy™.”

For years, the country has been subject to an unending barrage of violent and hysterical rhetoric about Trump. By perpetuating this narrative, by constantly beating into everyone’s heads that Trump is Hitler, the ruling class has practically invited someone to do what was attempted on July 13. If Trump is what he is accused of being, then anything is justified to prevent him from again obtaining the presidency by constitutional means. By incessantly stoking this hatred, Trump’s political enemies are creating an environment where a person of a certain turn of mind might expect to be feted as a hero for boldly acting to stop Trump’s tyranny. That man would be the great vindicator of “Our Democracy™.”

Make no mistake: by the logic of stochastic terrorism, the list of people complicit in the attempt on Trump’s life is long and distinguished, and it covers the whole political spectrum. It begins at the very top. President Biden made himself a stochastic terrorist by his execrable speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia (the one with the demonic red lighting). As Ohio Senator J.D. Vance posted on X, “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.”

Biden, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. There are too many examples to list them all here. It involves politicians of both parties. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney are right there with The Squad. Pundits, too, from Rachel Maddow to Robert Kagan. Academics and activists all over the country. Every neckbearded Antifa keyboard warrior living in his mom’s basement. From Never Trump Republicans to the Marxist Left, there’s plenty of responsibility to go around.

Trump’s enemies—the Marxist Left, the Deep State, and the uniparty oligarchy—have spent almost a decade trying to destroy Trump, and they’ve failed at every turn. They failed to discredit him with scandals (muh Russia). They failed to keep him off the ballot. They are currently failing to put him in prison. After the debate, they knew they couldn’t beat him in a fair election, and it was increasingly unlikely that they could pull off another 2020-style coup. They had nothing left. Whether they pulled the trigger themselves or simply created an atmosphere of hate that encouraged some rando to do it is irrelevant. They’re all guilty. Sorry, not sorry. Your rules, not mine.