On October 12, 1984, the Irish Republican Army, tried to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during her party's convention
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Sunday morning on NBC, former Biden White House Communications Director Jen Psaki, now a host on MSNBC, made an extraordinary and inflammatory demand.
Looking ahead to the GOP Convention in Milwaukee that begins on Monday, she claimed that "Unless the programming changes, the rhetoric and how the programming is set up is not actually calming the tone, or restoring civility."
She then issued a veiled threat: "We’ll see if that programming changes but if it stays the same, that is escalating it. It is not a civil approach to a convention."
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First of all, what is she even talking about?
The "programming" that Psaki seems to think is so unacceptably lacking in civility consists of four themes: ‘Make America Wealthy Again’, ‘Make America Safe Once Again’, ‘Make America Strong Once Again’, and on the final day, ‘Make America Great Once Again.’
How on earth is any of that "escalating" the situation she was commenting on -- the attempted assassination of President Trump? It is a preposterous thing for Psaki to have said.
How does she know what "the rhetoric" will be? Is Psaki secretly writing the remarks of the Republican speakers?
Let’s assume no bad faith on her part. But let’s also be clear what her ludicrous statements unintentionally reveal: the belief among partisan Democrats that any challenge to their political power is by definition beyond the bounds of reasonable opinion.
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In fact, contrary to what Jen Psaki demands, the correct--and moral-- response to the shocking scenes on Saturday would be for the GOP Convention to go ahead exactly as planned.
And an eerie echo from history tells us why.
On October 12th, 1984, a terror organization, the Irish Republican Army, tried to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
It happened during the Conservative Party convention (called the Party Conference) being held that year in Brighton, England. The terrorists planted a bomb in the Grand Hotel where Mrs. Thatcher, along with top Conservative Party officials, was staying.
The bomb ripped through the hotel, killing five and injuring more than thirty.
It obliterated the bathroom in Margaret Thatcher’s suite. She had been in that room just two minutes before the bomb went off. She had been working on her speech to the conference, took a bathroom break and then returned to her desk.
Two minutes different, and she would have been killed, at the height of her powers and before her triumphant re-election for a third term in 1987.
It was a miraculous escape. But that’s not the only parallel between Brighton 1984 and Butler 2024.
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Soon after the attack, with many of her closest colleagues still buried in the rubble of the destroyed hotel, Margaret Thatcher appeared on camera to insist that the conference would go ahead exactly as planned.
She even insisted that a local store be opened an hour early so that conference attendees could make sure they had fresh clothes.
Later that morning, just a few hours after the assassination attempt that so nearly took her life, the prime minister addressed the conference in the resolute style that was her hallmark:
The attack "was an attempt not only to disrupt and terminate our conference; it was an attempt to cripple Her Majesty’s democratically elected Government. That is the scale of the outrage in which we have all shared, and the fact that we are gathered here now, shocked but composed and determined, is a sign not only that this attack has failed, but that all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail."
The ‘Brighton Bomb’, as it became known, happened 40 years ago. But I remember it as if it was last week.
Perhaps that’s because Brighton is my hometown. It’s a seaside resort on the south coast of England, where party conventions were held regularly.
That year, I remember hearing the news of the bomb when I woke up. I remember walking down to the seafront, before school, seeing the destruction for myself. It felt utterly apocalyptic. I was 15-years-old and the scene made a huge impression.
But the other thing that made such a huge impression was Mrs. Thatcher’s courage and leadership. Years later, I had the great honor of meeting her on a number of occasions when I worked for the Conservative Party.
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All this came to mind as I watched President Trump’s extraordinary reaction to the attempt to take his life on Saturday.
Of course, Donald Trump and Margaret Thatcher are completely different in many ways.
FILE – (Original Caption) Tokyo, Japan: United States President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meet for private talks prior to the beginning of the Tokyo economic conference. (Getty Images)
But as I have said before, including on my Fox News Channel show, "The Next Revolution," Trump resembles Thatcher -- as well as President Reagan (also, of course, the victim of a dramatic assassination attempt) -- in one crucial way.
These are leaders who truly changed the course of their country -- and history. They are giants among political pygmies.
As we saw President Trump rise up to rally his supporters moments after being hit by an assassin’s bullet, in an image that will be one of the most iconic in American history, we can see why.
And as we prepare for the GOP Convention in Milwaukee, and the election campaign ahead, let’s take our lead not from Jen Psaki but from Margaret Thatcher.
She insisted that things must go forward exactly as planned.
That is the best response to anyone, anywhere, who tries to disrupt our lives with terror and violence.
That is the strong leadership we need.
That is the strong leadership President Trump showed us all.
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Steve Hilton is host of "The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton" on Fox News Channel at 9pm ET Sundays and author of the book "Positive Populism: Revolutionary Ideas to Rebuild Economic Security, Family and Community in America." Follow him on Twitter @SteveHiltonx.
