NYT contributor calls for the lynching of Mike Pence in the name of ‘unity’

While the political left obsessed over the potential threat of violence from Trump supporters on Inauguration Day, opinion writer Will Wilkinson—also the vice president for research at the Niskanen Center—took to social media to claim that Biden should execute the former Republican vice president by lynching.

In the now-deleted tweet, the leftist think tank executive wrote late Wednesday night: "If Biden really wanted unity, he'd lynch Mike Pence." He has since locked down his account. However, the screenshots still circulated.

Prior to the controversial comment, Wilkinson responded to criticism of Biden from conservatives: "'Aha! Biden proposes policies I dislike. HIS CALL FOR UNITY IS A LIE!' is all the forlorn conservative mind can seem to muster. Sad."

Wilkinson returned the following day to Twitter to explain the post, claiming the statement was "sharp sarcasm" and meant in jest. He apologized and promised to correct his behavior, calling the instance "an error of judgement."

"Last night I made an error of judgment and tweeted this," Wilkinson tweeted. “It was sharp sarcasm, but looked like a call for violence. That's always wrong, even as a joke. It was especially wrong at a moment when unity and peace are so critical. I'm deeply sorry and vow not to repeat the mistake."

Wilkinson went on to state that there's "no excuse" for his "lapse in judgment here," clarifying his intentions as over-the-top satire.

His "ill-advised" remark aimed to "drive home the exasperating bad faith of those whose own divisive rhetoric and repetition of lies about election fraud facilitated the mob attack on the Capitol, where pro-Trump rioters built a noose and called for Pence's head," Wilkinson added.

"It's hard to imagine anything more offensively divisive than that," Wilkinson charged. "Anyone who contributed to the toxic partisan animosity that led to this episode of violent sedition has no standing to suggest that we cannot arrive at unity except on their terms."

Wilkinson blasted Biden's right-wing adversaries for accusing the president of "insincerity," given his campaign's regurgitated calls for unity.

He fired back at conservatives for their accusations "simply because they disagreed with [Biden's] policy proposals" as if a career Democrat "taking standard Democratic positions were inherently divisive."

Wilkinson maneuvered to highlight the political right's alleged unwillingness to comply with "national unification."

"If right-wing demands led to calls to kill the vice president, but there can be no national unification except on right-wing terms, that suggests the COMPLETELY ABSURD conclusion that if Biden really took unity seriously, he'd endorse the mob violence of January 6," Wilkinson pressed.

Wilkinson's Twitter account received no corrective action from the social network giant despite Big Tech's crackdown on purported incitements of violence in the wake of the Capitol Hill riot.

President Donald Trump suffered permanent exile in the remaining days of his presidency. Critics called for Wilkinson to face similar suspension.

This is not the first time Wilkinson has downplayed left-wing violence. Just last week, Wilkinson denied dozens of fatalities when he claimed that the widespread destruction caused by the summer's onslaught of Black Lives Matter riots was limited to "smashing the window of a Jamba Juice."

"Violently overrunning police to storm the seat of government during a joint session of Congress in a bid to overturn the result of a presidential election is categorically different from smashing the window of a Jamba Juice during a BLM protest. So f*cking stop it, right now," Wilkinson tweeted the day after the storming of the Capitol building.

Niskanen Center has urged the Senate to "convict" and "disqualify" Trump from holding "any future federal office." The leftist think tank also argued that members of Congress "who vouched for the president's lies about election fraud must also be sanctioned for their role."

Last year, Niskanen Center's president and co-founder Jerry Taylor threatened to assault the St. Louis couple who brandished guns at protesters outside their home.

"If I were in that march, and these racist lunatics were waiving guns at me, I’d like to think I’d rush them and beat their brains in. And I wouldn’t apologize for it for one goddam second," Wilkinson's boss wrote in the since-deleted tweet.

Taylor also encouraged Antifa militants to attack the couple. "Yeah, excuse me if I root for #antifa to punch these idiots out. Guilty as charged. I know who's [sic] side I'm on," he proclaimed. "In the world of 'fascists' and 'anti-fascists,' I'm with the latter," Taylor concluded.

Wilkinson has not responded to The Post Millennial's request for comment.