Sunday, April 3, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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Just weeks after two right-wing extremists verbally assaulted and appeared to threaten violence against Gov. Steve Sisolak and his wife at a restaurant in Las Vegas, a left-wing radical unleashed a vile tirade against Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo during a public appearance Monday.
In both cases the tactics were similar — the public figure is asked to come in close to the assailant under the pretext of taking a selfie and then, once within easy reach of the assailant — and potentially vulnerable to violence — the verbal assault begins. The victim immediately recoils because he is too close to an aggressive person, and then the assailant starts pursuing while the public figure retreats. It’s a formula for grotesque street theater at best, violence at worst.
This ugliness has got to stop, regardless of where it’s coming from on the political spectrum. Whether from the right or left or in-between, it has no business in a civilized society.
The harassment of Sisolak and Lombardo had similarities, in that the clods who shot off their mouths both recorded themselves and proudly posted the videos to social media. In Lombardo’s case, a leader in the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) followed him through the crowd at a panel discussion Monday at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, shouting profanities and insults.
Worse yet, the local DSA reacted to the incident not by condemning it but by seeming to encourage more bad behavior by saying, “Lombardo is despicable and his constituents should let him know that.”
Lombardo didn’t deserve this, nor does anyone. That’s not to say Lombardo is above criticism — he’s definitely not, for reasons we’ve detailed in previous editorials and will again — but there are plenty of appropriate times, places and methods for beefing at any public official. What happened at the Smith Center didn’t check any of those boxes. It was simply an act of thuggery and intimidation.
Look, we’re no fans of Lombardo. The Clark County sheriff is opportunistically chasing former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and courting the Trumpian right wing of the Republican Party in his bid to win the primary for governor, and it’s disgusting to watch. After expressing moderate views as sheriff on gun safety, immigration and other divisive issues, he took a hard turn right in his candidacy for governor. His strategy was obviously based on standard GOP political theory that Trump’s supporters are the most passionate in the party and therefore will turn out in greatest numbers for the primary, but it’s a cowardly approach. Lombardo could have presented himself as a candidate for principled, reasonable Republicans, and energized them to vote in the primary, but he took the gutless way out by disguising himself as a true-believer Trumpist.
We’ll see if it works. Trump’s endorsement isn’t the golden ticket it once was in the GOP, as shown by the fact that some of his preferred candidates are polling badly in other states. And even if Lombardo does win the primary, his turn as a Trumper doesn’t bode well for him in a state where the former president lost in both 2016 and 2020.
Meanwhile, Lombardo has ducked interviews and debates, instead choosing only to engage the public in situations where he can avoid tough questions or reasonable criticism.
We, like others, are galled by a candidate so worried about scrutiny that he is terrified of sitting down for hard questions before the primary. Every voter in the state should look at this as political spinelessness of the first order.
But again, that doesn’t mean he should be chased down, cursed at, provoked, etc.
For those upset with Lombardo or any other public leader, acceptable options for expressing opposition include calling or emailing their office, calling into a radio talk show, carrying a picket sign on public right-of-way outside their office, protesting outside of candidate speaking engagements, submitting a letter to the editor or a guest column to the Sun, and, of course, voting against them.
Or critics can run for office themselves and defeat the politician who’s making them mad.
If the thugs who accosted Sisolak and Lombardo had any true courage and were interested in serving the public good, they’d take constructive action.
This behavior must be condemned whenever it happens and wherever it comes from. Sisolak, to his credit, did just that after the incident with Lombardo. He didn’t use it for political advantage, either — unlike Lombardo, who responded to the harassment of Sisolak by decrying the vitriol but also taking a swipe at Sisolak’s policies. And keep in mind that Sisolak was with his wife and one of his daughters during his incident, and that the men accosted all three of them.
Nevada state GOP chairman Michael McDonald spoke out in both instances, and said after the Lombardo incident that “This is not the Nevada we all love.”
Nice words, but frankly McDonald hasn’t put his money where his mouth is on the matter. Instead, the state Republicans have veered into Trumpian extremism and adopted the toxic rhetoric that comes with it. They’ve even allowed violent alt-right groups like the Proud Boys to establish a visible presence in the party.
Meanwhile, Nevadans on the left must watch their ranks closely and be ready to counter left-wing extremism when they see it. McDonald is right in that it doesn’t reflect the Nevada we love but it’s up to individuals across the board to do something about it.
