EXCERPT:
SMITH: “My biggest concern is that we as a society are normalizing political violence. And you see this in many points on the political spectrum. The denigration and attacking of elected officials that you disagree with. It becomes incredibly -- it's hateful and dehumanizing. And it puts in people's minds the idea that violence is an acceptable way to carry out your political viewpoints. And you see this in much of the dialogue that we have. No one side of the political spectrum has a monopoly on it. It's certainly -- you've seen it on the right and the left. But President Trump is the biggest problem here. I mean, he has used hateful, degrading rhetoric from the day he decided to run for president. And then pardoning all of the January 6th attackers at the U.S. Capitol, people who thought that violence was a legitimate way to overturn an election, and Donald Trump gave them a big stamp of approval.”