“We got the guillotine, you better run.”
Those words could have easily been expressed at the turn of the nineteenth century as French Jacobins and other groups called for the heads of the wealthy and privileged classes.
Indeed, for some of us, it was a bizarre sense of déjà vu. As the scene unfolded with this chant and a full-sized guillotine in Portland, I was putting final touches on my forthcoming book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution. The book, published by Simon & Schuster, will be released in 2026 as part of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It explores the American and French Revolutions and why one became the most stable democracy in the world and the other became the blood-soaked “Terror.”
The appearance of guillotines is becoming commonplace in protests by the left. From protests against Trump to those against Israel, the symbol of the Terror is being rolled out as a warning to those with opposing views: “We got the guillotine, you better run.”
It is the ultimate expression of an age of rage. There is no question that it is protected speech. However, it is part of what I have called “rage rhetoric,” and it is meant to inflame others. It suggests that the only solution to these issues is what the French called “the razor of the Republic.”
In the French Revolution, the irony is that those who turned the guillotine into the symbol of revolution were themselves beheaded on the same platforms. Robespierre and others would ultimately be dispatched in the same atmosphere of rage and revelry.
As my new book discusses, most revolutions are driven by establishment figures who seek to capitalize on the wave of popular rage to gain power. We are seeing that today with many Democratic leaders using rage rhetoric to appeal to the far extremes of their political bases.
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger called on people to get ready to “take to the streets” because the political system is failing them. (This is the same Adam Kinzinger who previously denounced Trump and others for reckless rhetoric: “Look, violent rhetoric is wrong, and has no place. But MAGA pretending they didn’t light this fire is gaslighting to the 100th power.”).
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared, “I’m going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.” It follows other violent rhetoric from Democratic leaders.
One House member explained that there is a “sense of fear and despair and anger” among voters that “puts us in a different position where … we can’t keep following norms of decorum.” One House Democrat told Axios, “Some of them have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) posted a picture brandishing a baseball bat.
Yet another admitted that constituents have told them to prepare for “violence … to fight to protect our democracy.” Others reported that liberals are talking about the need “to storm the White House and stuff like that.”
One explained that “They’re angry beyond things.” Another said, “It’s like … the Roman coliseum. People just want more and more of this spectacle.”
Some are discussing triggering or staging violence. One member said, “What I have seen is a demand that we get ourselves arrested intentionally or allow ourselves to be victims of violence, and … a lot of times that’s coming from economically very secure white people.”
In one encounter, a lawmaker told Axios: “I actually said in a meeting, ‘When they light a fire, my thought is to grab an extinguisher’. And someone at the table said, ‘Have you tried gasoline?’”
Some have. Protesters are burning cars, dealerships, and even lawyers and reporters on the left are throwing Molotov cocktails at police. We have also seen a massive increase in attacks on ICE officers, who are now covering their faces to avoid doxxing or retaliation against themselves or their families.
In the end, today’s pseudo-revolutionaries are likely to find themselves tomorrow’s reactionaries. Leading mobs is rarely a safe place to be as more radical elements take hold of a movement. The result is an inexorable pattern that runs throughout history as revolution devours its own.