It was always going to come to this. The attempted bombing campaign against Democratic leaders was inevitable. Perhaps not the specifics – could have been different targets, with different methods – but the violence was unavoidable. We have been percolating towards this point for years now.

We don’t yet know who sent the bombs or what their motives were. We have a pretty good idea, though. The bomb includes a parody Isis flag and the words “get ‘er done,” the catchphrase of Larry the Cable Guy, a comedian popular amongst the swaths of the country that make up Trump’s base. You only need to look at the current political climate and look at the targets to draw the obvious conclusion. This was an act of political terrorism.

The President doesn’t think so, though. He has spent much of the past 48 hours minimising this act or mocking it, as he did at a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night. Early this morning, he tweeted his anger at “how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs [sic] and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream ‘it’s just not presidential!’”

Nothing about how Donald Trump has handled this, or most anything since taking office, has been presidential, though. Indeed, much of the blame for this culture of political violence rests on Donald Trump’s shoulders. From Hillary Clinton to Maxine Waters to CNN, every target is someone Trump has routinely attacked or vilified or accused of being “an enemy of the people.”

On Wednesday evening, at a rally in Wisconsin, the president refused to take any responsibility for the culture he has fostered, instead again blaming the media. But if Trump doesn’t turn down the heat, if he doesn’t start treating Democrats like the loyal opposition and not the enemy within, and if his own base doesn’t cool down as well, things are only going to escalate further.

I can already hear Republicans crying “But what about the Dems?!” Yes, Hillary Clinton said “you cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for,” which was unhelpful but perhaps understandable from a woman who has been put through the ringer by Republicans for nearly 30 years. And yes, former Attorney General Eric Holder said, “When they go low, we kick ‘em,” but he followed it up by adding, “When I say we, you know, kick ‘em, I don’t mean we do anything inappropriate. We don’t do anything illegal. But we gotta be tough.”

That’s a far cry from Trump, who once promised to pay the legal bills for any supporter who assaulted a protestor. This is a man who has encouraged violence at rallies, who said Democratic lawmakers were “treasonous” and “un-American” for not clapping for him. Then he called Democrats “really evil people” for opposing Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. As Chris Matthews put it on Hardball last night, it isn’t a big jump from “lock her up” to “blow her up.”

Political violence is not new to America. From the Hamilton-Burr duel to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln to the murder of Harvey Milk, it has happened throughout our history. Just last year, Congressman Steve Scalise was shot by a man who had a history of opposing the Republican Party.

That was a horrific and unconscionable act. It was also an isolated incident. It was not like what happened this week. There has been no concerted effort by Democratic leadership to demonise and incite violence against Republicans or Trump supporters. You never heard Barack Obama lead a “lock him up” chant or Nancy Pelosi call into question the patriotism or loyalty of Fox News.

The attempted bombings are just the latest in right-wing violence towards the left and the press. In 2016, a Trump supporter assaulted a protestor at a Trump rally in North Carolina. Last year, Republican Congressman Paul Gianforte physically assaulted a Guardian reporter. Last week, Donald Trump laughed about that incident. Also last year, a white nationalist drove a car into a crowd of protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Nobody died this week, but that’s only because we as a country got lucky, and it doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. Yesterday morning a bomb was found at the production studios owned by Robert De Niro, who famously said “f*** Trump” at the Tony Awards.

President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty

That these bombs have targeted not only politicians but private citizens like De Niro is chilling. If you’re not with Trump, the message seems to be, then you’re a traitor – and we will try to kill you. Let’s not mince words here – this is where we are now. People are so hate-filled that they are trying to kill their fellow citizens for the simple act of disagreeing.

As a frequent critic of the president, it makes me nervous. I’m already on-edge living in deep red eastern North Carolina. When I moved here this spring, a man at a bar told me that if I’m a Democrat, I should keep that to myself to stay safe. I thought he was joking. Watching people at the Trump rally on Wednesday chant “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton on the same day someone tried to blow her up really scared me. To see them take glee as the president mocked “being nice” on a day when someone tried to kill his political opponents was frightening.

As a Democrat, I fear for my safety. As an American, I weep for my country. This is not the sign of a healthy, functioning democracy. Americans of all political persuasions should be horrified. We are more divided than we have been at any point in my life, and it is incumbent upon all of us, but especially the president, to tone down the hostile rhetoric.

Nobody died this time. That is no guarantee that nobody will die next time. And if a right-wing extremist kills a Democratic politician, Trump and every Republican who has tolerated his incendiary rhetoric will have to answer for it.