Former President Donald J. Trump promised “retribution” throughout his campaign. With Trump now bound for office again, the promised arrests, deportations, and censorship of the media feel very real.
Locally, both Democrats and Republicans say this has manifested in threats, retaliation from conservative employers, and hostility to journalists.
While Pittsburgh City Paper covered Trump’s Nov. 4 rally at PPG Paints Arena without incident (beyond getting booed and having our snacks confiscated), journalist Dave Shelton was forcibly removed from the rally; this despite Shelton’s Republican bona fides — he ran for office as a self-described “MAGA Republican” in his home state of West Virginia.
“I had not actually pre-signed up for the press because I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to be there,” Shelton tells City Paper. He instead RSVP’d for general admission and checked in in person as a member of the media for his home outlet, the WV Central Newspaper. Despite showing credentials, Shelton says a young man working security for the campaign called him a “liar” and tried to bar his entry. After being admitted anyway, Shelton says the same man spotted him and got aggressive.
“He said, ‘you’re coming with me,’” Shelton recalls. “I said, ‘who are you?’ and he said, ‘I’m the guy kicking you out; that’s who.’”
(Pittsburgh City Paper witnessed other security personnel behaving in a similar fashion, with a man in a tight polo shirt and black gloves forcibly removing someone, along with their elderly family member using a wheelchair, for calling former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “an asshole.”)
In spite of seeking out colleagues and members of Team Trump, who apparently did not provide security at that particular rally, Shelton eventually found himself on the outside of the arena looking in. He published an op-ed about the incident under the headline “Sometimes You Have to Wonder” in the WV Central Newspaper’s Nov.-Dec. Issue, describing security at the event as on a “power trip.”
Shelton still identifies as a Republican and says he doesn’t blame Trump for the problem. Rather, he says the Pennsylvania state party’s operation has become permissive when it comes to mistreating the media. Although he describes West Virginia’s state party as friendlier, he’s also gotten blowback from reporting on, among other things, police corruption.
“These guys feel like we are no longer free press; we’re actually free game for them,” Shelton tells CP. “If it doesn’t fit with their agenda, what you’re writing, then they’re gonna try to shut it down.”
Shelton reached out to multiple state party officials for redress, but got reluctance instead. CP followed up with those he’d contacted via email for additional comment, but did not hear back by press time. He also laments the way this has happened in tandem with the journalism industry’s budget and burnout crises and public loss of trust in media writ large.
“I’ve been around it for a long time and I’ve seen the deterioration [in media],” Shelton says. “But the way that they are treating us is pretty pathetic.”
In other areas, that hostility to MAGA’s perceived enemies has manifested in threats of violence.
CP was scheduled to cover a Democratic party gathering on Election Day and had received prior approval to cover the event. However, party officials became aware of bomb threats via the Pa. Lt. Gov.’s office and called off the gathering, with one party operative telling CP they “needed to make the safety of volunteers a priority.”
Sam Hens-Greco, chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Party, says the election ran smoothly and praises the job poll and party workers did throughout. He notes that Allegheny County saw few issues beyond the threats and that vote totals, and results were similar to 2020, proving that election’s legitimacy. However, when it comes to Trump’s “retribution,” Hens-Greco notes that planned appointments, such as that of MAGA loyalist Kash Patel as FBI Director, means Trump is “following through” on his threats.
“It’s a pretty chilling, concerning point in time as far as how our democracy works,” he tells CP. “There’s a really clear signal coming from the top that they plan to make good on all these purges that they’ve promised.”
Hens-Greco says the county party is looking ahead to Pittsburgh’s important mayoral election and the retention of Democratic-leaning judges on the Pa. Supreme Court.
“Democrats have got to be ready,” he says. “We’re gonna start early in this office.”
Even now, weeks after the election, other areas of local life remain tense. A local woman who wished to remain anonymous due to ongoing workplace problems says she faced a “toxic” work environment in the days after Nov. 5. After responding to comments a male coworker made about Trump’s victory, she found herself sitting opposite Human Resources. The source says she’s considering her options while the process drags out.
“The world looks different for everybody, right?” she tells CP. “But just saying you can’t catcall women in the workplace doesn’t accomplish anything if we’re not educating people a little more about how the world feels depending on your lived experiences and your identity.”
“I’m being punished for saying how the world looks from where I sit,” the source adds. “That, to me, is problematic for not just women, but for a whole bunch of identity groups who are feeling targeted right now.”
Shelton, meanwhile, has continued to reach out to GOP officials — in addition to calls and emails, he sent a Facebook message to Lara Trump — in search of answers as to why the party has mistreated its own.
“I compare what the GOP in PA is doing to people who profess to be good Christians yet are some of the most hypocritical, hateful and judgemental people I’ve ever met,” he wrote to CP after a follow-up interview. “They blame everyone else and complain but don’t take any accountability.”
“I ran as a MAGA Republican, and they knew that,” he says. “The fact that I was treated like that, even doubly by this [security] guy … it was a major disrespect to me, especially when I went through the proper channels.”
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2024.
