‘War Game,’ political violence, and the risk of extremism in the armed forces; 1A, WAMU, September 24, 2025

Michael Falero, 1A, WAMU; ‘War Game,’ political violence, and the risk of extremism in the armed forces

"One of the hallmarks of American democracy is upholding the principle of the peaceful transfer of power. Key to that principle is the word “peaceful.”

On Jan. 6, 2021 that principle was tested. Insurrectionists, some organized, tried and failed to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election.

What if that violence happened in a future American election? What if extremist groups who felt democracy was at risk included a small number of active members of the military or National Guard? 

A new documentary, “War Game,” follows an effort to play out that scenario, to see how bipartisan participants, including former politicians and retired military officers, would react to election violence from a fake White House situation room. 

What are the risks in responding to violence around an election outcome? How would that situation become more complicated if a handful of members of the military were involved in trying to overturn an election? And how common is it for extremism to enter the ranks of branches of the military?

We discuss those questions and the film, spoiler free.

Janessa Goldbeck

CEO, Vet Voice Foundation

Jesse Moss

co-director and producer, “War Game"

Nikki Wentling

disinformation and extremism reporter, The Military Times...

• [Interviewer Jen White] So we hear there from your own experience, Janessa, that part of this exercise is about your experience with your father, and you connect it to the weakening of democratic institutions. If this is an exercise looking at the strength of our institutions, like our branches of government, what did you take away from the scenario about their resilience in the face of political violence and the resilience of the leaders within those institutions?

• 
  

  [Janessa Goldbeck, CEO, Vet Voice Foundation]

  You know, one thing that folks always come up to me after screenings, about is is this part of the film in particular. So many Americans around the country are facing a deep divide within their own homes. Someone in their family who is, very invested in a conspiracy theory or an ideology that feels completely alien. You know, and I obviously have experienced that with my own father. I think a lot of people have some a family member, someone they love that, is ascribed to a belief system that feels just impossible to wrap your your hands around. And I think that's something that isn't necessarily going to be solved by government alone. It's something that we need to invest in, programs and ways that we can actually just kinda build bridges in this country. I think, you know, that surgeon general of the United States for the first time has declared loneliness an epidemic in this country. And I think that some of that loneliness is is building is providing or or fueling this need for people to connect, and they find that connection, in spaces where conspiracy theories and extremist ideology flourish. So I don't know that it's necessarily a problem for government to solve on its own. It's certainly a challenge. I don't have all the answers, but I think more conversation is required, and war game is a provocation for that conversation."

Trump, Outrage and the Modern Era of Political Violence; The New York Times, September 16, 2024

 Peter Baker, The New York Times; Trump, Outrage and the Modern Era of Political Violence

"Mr. Trump, who as recently as last week’s debate with Ms. Harris blamed Democrats for the shooting at a rally in Butler, Pa., that struck his ear in July, attributed Sunday’s attempt to the president and vice president as well, arguing that the arrested suspect was acting in response to their political attacks.

“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Mr. Trump told Fox News on Monday. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”

Even as he complained that the Democrats had made him a target by calling him a threat to democracy, he repeated his own assertion that “these are people that want to destroy our country” and called them “the enemy from within” — certainly language no less provocative than that used about him.

Indeed, within hours, his campaign emailed a list of quotes from Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris and other Democrats attacking Mr. Trump with phrases like “a threat to our democracy” and a “threat to this nation,” without noting that just last week during the debate the former president said “they’re the threat to democracy.”

One of Mr. Trump’s most prominent and vocal supporters went so far as to question why Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have not been targeted for murder. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” Elon Musk, the billionaire social media owner, wrote online.

Mr. Musk later deleted the post and called it a joke, but the White House pushed back. “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” said Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”"

Political violence is no joke; Washington Post, 8/10/16

William Kennedy Smith and Jean Kennedy Smith, Washington Post; Political violence is no joke:

"By now, we have heard enough dark and offensive rhetoric from Trump to know that it reflects something fundamentally troubled, and troubling, about his candidacy. Trump’s remarks frequently, if not inevitably, spark outrage, which is followed by a clarification that, in lieu of an apology, seeks to attribute the dark undertones of his words to the listener’s twisted psyche. This fools no one. Whether you like what he is saying or, like a growing segment of the electorate, you reject it, it is easy to grasp Trump’s meaning from his words. But what to make of a candidate who directly appeals to violence, smears his opponents and publicly bullies a Gold Star family, a decorated prisoner of war and a reporter with a disability, among others? To borrow the words of Army Counsel Joseph Welch, directed at another dangerous demagogue: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

The truth remains that words do matter, especially when it comes to presidential candidates. On that basis alone, Donald Trump is not qualified to be president of the United States."