See, the problem is that Republicans are FAR more ethical than Democrats, so they tend to shrink from retaliating in kind. In fact, Democrats depend on that! Their stance is that, “We will unfairly hammer you because we know that you will never retaliate.”
But at some point Republicans need to stop being the “noble” victims, here. They may not approve of hitting someone, but it may well be the right response to smack the despot bully in the mouth!