Violence, threats and intimidation have increasingly become a feature of America’s political life. 

Last week, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, the US speaker of the House, was assaulted inside his home in San Francisco. 

And just last year, thousands of rioters descended on the Capitol, storming through the hallways, in an attempt to reverse the outcome of the Presidential election. 

Today on Please Explain, US Correspondent Farrah Tomazin joins Chris Zappone to discuss what’s happening in the US - and what it means when the world’s greatest superpower, and arguably Australia’s most important ally, is facing such disorder from within.