Former president Donald Trump has reshared comments from a Truth Social user – a platform that Trump owns and continuously uses since being banned from mainstream social media – where he suggested civil war in response to inflation.

This comment has been met with backlash from Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger who has been an open critic of the former president. In a tweet, Kinzinger asked fellow Republicans if they would speak out against the shared post by the former president.

Any of my fellow Republicans wanna speak out now? Or are we just wanting to get through “just one more election first…?” https://t.co/G6YXAC1qIb

— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) May 22, 2022

The former president has been in hot water in the past, most noticeably for the infamous comments made during the U.S. Capitol insurrection, where a group of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a direct attack on American democracy on Jan. 6, 2021.

The insurrection was fueled by the hurt former president who could not accept the fact that he had lost to President Joseph Biden. The assault against American democracy sent waves of embarrassment and shock to many people tuned in to their television screens and watched as hoards of insurrectionists waved flags and shattered windows attempting to gain access into the Capitol building.

Moments before the attack, the former president had given a speech in which he claimed the election had been stolen from him. Such remarks ended with him being permanently banned from Twitter, where he was infamously known to tweet his opinions.

So why does this matter?

When someone such as a president or a celebrity with a large following uses their platform to spout hate or incite violence, this puts everyone in extreme danger. We cannot allow this to happen. Free speech does not include racism or a call for violence.

People are allowed to have opinions over the economy, politics or any other topic, but when it comes down to using violence as a form of retaliation because you claimed to have lost an election, that is where the line should be drawn. Not everyone should have access to social media – not when they have been known to be controversial.

The sad reality is that this generation focuses on the controversial.

When someone is problematic and has a huge platform with tons of followers, it unfortunately gets attention. The infamous slap at the Oscars between Will Smith and Chris Rock garnered more attention than any breaking news stories that week.

While the infamous slap is now behind everyone, this is just one example of how controversy of any kind fuels this generation. I don’t blame anyone, we’re always looking for the “next big thing” to comment on or argue about. It’s simply human nature. But when we focus on politics, this is a separate level from arts and entertainment.

Politicians don’t understand the power their words can have over crowds of supporters or followers. Instead of focusing on supposed lost elections or attacking their fellow politicians, lawmakers should focus on putting the needs of the people first. After all, if there’s anything we can learn from the Capitol insurrection and Trump’s presidency, it’s that we do not want another assault on democracy.

It’s time we define what free speech means, and violence isn’t one of them. Trump can continue to claim about a supposedly stolen and rigged election all he wants, but it’s time we stop giving irrelevant people attention.