Chicago City Wire

Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers, has expressed concerns about the actions of Democrats, accusing them of undermining democracy by enabling extremist rhetoric against political opponents while claiming to defend it. This statement was made in an op-ed.

"Democrats lecture America about “threats to democracy,” while their cultural shock troops glorify stabbing the leading presidential candidate," said Cortes. "They don't defend democracy—they desecrate it."

At Riot Fest in September 2025, the heavy metal band GWAR staged a controversial performance where they theatrically decapitated a figure resembling Donald Trump and disemboweled an effigy of Elon Musk. The video gained widespread attention after being shared by Libs of TikTok. The group defended their act as satirical art; however, critics argued that it normalized violence against political figures, according to Axios.

According to a July 2025 Government Accountability Office (GAO) review, threats of political violence against presidential candidates remain a growing concern. The review identified lapses in Secret Service threat information sharing and planning, citing the July 13, 2024 Trump rally assassination attempt as an example of preparedness failure. GAO issued eight recommendations to improve security, as said in Sen. Chuck Grassley’s release of the report.

National polling reveals partisan divides over democracy and violence. In its American Values Survey conducted in late 2023, PRRI reported that 23% of Americans agreed with the statement that "true American patriots may have to resort to violence," marking a significant increase from 15% in 2021. The poll also found majorities across party lines concerned about threats to democracy's stability.

Cortes is a conservative commentator and former Trump campaign adviser who now leads the League of American Workers. He previously worked in finance and later became a frequent political analyst on CNBC, CNN, and Fox News, where he emphasized populist themes and Latino outreach.

The League of American Workers is described as a populist advocacy organization founded and led by Cortes. Its mission focuses on pro-worker, pro-family, and economic nationalist policies aimed at boosting wages and strengthening labor influence while resisting globalist economic trends. The group advances its agenda through research and media efforts.