In what appears to be a repeat of the 2016 and 2020 election cycles, the media is once again fretting over the "violent" rhetoric used by former President Donald Trump in public commentary and on social media against those who stand opposed to him.

A newly added twist to those rehashed concerns is the supposed emulation of Trump's "violent talk" from some of his Republican allies in Congress, according to The Hill.

The purported emerging "trend" of GOP members of Congress adopting Trump's "pugnacious rhetoric" and "bombastic threats and insults" has supposedly set off "alarm bells" among some on Capitol Hill.

Senator ready to brawl with labor union leader

One recent example highlighted by The Hill was an incident during a Senate committee hearing in which Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a former professional mixed martial arts fighter, appeared ready to physically square off against a labor union leader who had previously challenged and insulted him until committee chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) intervened and restored order.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin @SenMullin just stood up and tried to fight labor leader Sean O'Brien @TeamsterSOB at a Senate Help Committee hearing after reading his tweet where O'Brien says he'd take him "any time, any place." pic.twitter.com/8oiPSNZJV8

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 14, 2023

What The Hill conveniently left out of its report, however, was that there has been a "long-running feud" between Mullin and International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, according to Newsweek, and the committee hearing standoff had been precipitated by Mullin reading aloud and responding to prior insults and challenges posted against him by the Democratic union boss.

"I'm a guy from Oklahoma first, and in Oklahoma you don't do this. Maybe you run your mouth in New Jersey, I don't know I'm not from New Jersey," the GOP senator said in his defense during a Fox News interview. "But this is a mob boss, and you're supposed to be intimidated because he's the boss of the Teamsters."

"You're not going to run your mouth at me and expect me to sit there," Mullin added. "And you should have seen the fear in his eyes when I stood up, I'm not joking. I'm not looking for a fight, I used to get paid to fight professionally, but I'm not going to sit back and let somebody do that and not call them out on it."

A "physical altercation" between McCarthy and Burchett

Of course, one anecdotal incident does not make a trend, so The Hill dug up some of former President Trump's allegedly "violent" and harsh rhetoric from previous campaigns and sought to link them as the cause to more recent intraparty insults and squabbling among House Republicans.

The Washington Post pursued a similar track as well in highlighting the "childish insults" some members have traded with others as well as a supposed "physical altercation" that occurred in the view of reporters between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who had voted to oust the ex-speaker.

McCarthy was alleged to have shoved or elbowed Burchett in the back while navigating a crowded hallway, which prompted a confrontation between the two in front of reporters and snarky quips during and after the incident from the two Republican congressmen.

This is nothing new

Both The Hill and The Post also reported on an assortment of non-violent incidents that simply involved name-calling or insulting critiques between GOP members and also attributed that to the example set by the former president's "belligerent style."

Yet, as at least The Post acknowledged, "Congress has at times devolved into heated scenes, including on the floor. Violence was relatively common in the pre-Civil War era."

In other words, this is nothing new, nor is it solely attributable to former President Trump, and the media is wasting time and energy with its virtue-signaling handwringing over it.