Skeptics cite low reported incidence in the U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday convened representatives from more than 60 countries for a multilateral gathering focused on what the Trump administration describes as “left wing” political terrorism, a step that comes as Republicans make the issue a central theme ahead of the November midterm elections.
In opening remarks, Rubio argued that the international community has long neglected the threat. “So many people in positions of power have repeatedly dismissed acts of violence and even terrorism as legitimate forms of political expression, so long as they served a left-wing cause,” he said. He contrasted how different acts of violence are characterized: “A bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was ‘a nefarious and murderous act of evil.’ It is, but a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary; well, that’s just merely a tragic excess of idealism.”
The event, informally called the “Antifa summit” by some outlets, drew officials primarily from European and Latin American nations. U.S. officials presented the issue as an “alarming rise” that demanded a coordinated international response, and characterized those they said were perpetrating the acts as “communists and Marxists.”
According to the Associated Press, studies indicate there are very few reported cases of left-wing political violence in the United States, particularly when compared with historically higher levels of far-right violence. The discrepancy has drawn skepticism from civil liberties groups, who said they fear the administration’s framing could be part of a broader effort to target protesters viewed as left-wing extremists.