Assassination Attempt

How did you respond?

We don’t watch Trump rallies, so we were unaware in real time until we noticed a text minutes later from a local Young Life representative. We turned on the TV and viewed the tape in horror. Being old enough, I flashed back to the assassinations of President John Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. And in the ‘80s, the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagan.

No…not again, I thought.

We were glued to the TV, like most of the country. As we viewed the tape over and over again—the pop-popping sound of rifle fire, the former President clutching his ear and dropping to the ground, the Secret Service agents protecting Mr. Trump’s body with their own—my eyes watered in disbelief and dismay.

Then I turned angry.

How sad that one man lost his life, and two others were gravely wounded, all because they wanted to participate in our Democratic system. A metaphor, of sorts, for the horrible epithets that Trump supporters have endured from friends, family, and the mainstream media because they dare to support the candidate of their choice for political office. Unfortunately, these blistering attacks come from the extremes of both the left and right.

It didn’t take long after the assassination attempt for the distasteful rhetoric to ramp up.

Sky News, a Comcast-owned British media outlet, posted a story initially headlined, “Nothing justified an assassination bid – but did Trump play a part in changing the rules of engagement?” 

A leading Democrat fundraiser and political strategist apologized after he e-mailed journalists Saturday night to suggest the attempted assassination may have been “staged.”

He went on to write, “I know I am prone to bias on this, but this is a classic Putin play and given the facts seems more plausible. Look at the actual shot. Look at the   staging. Look at how ready Trump is to rally; this pampered baby sh-- his pants when an eagle lunged at this food. Look at how quickly Trump protects himself at the expense of others but showed few of those lifelong instincts in this moment. And consider how often Putin and his allies run this play.” – Fox Business

Mr. Trump has been called some nasty names. Fascist. The devil. Hitler. Both he and President Biden have encouraged their supporters to tamp down the hyperbole. Leadership starts at the top.

Hamish McKensie, co-founder of Substack and its Chief Writing Officer, wrote:

“In this historically delicate moment, the main places of online conversation are awash with fevered conspiracy theories and degenerate grandstanding by an endless parade of digitally addled hucksters seeking to exploit tragedy for personal gain (or, at least, internet points). The loudest, most craven voices are winning a game that doles out rewards to those who will do whatever it takes to win attention, with no regard for truth or trust. In the meantime, other platforms—online gathering places for billions of people—are down-ranking news and politics, preferring suppression to whatever it is that would otherwise be loosed by their machines.”

He went on.

“We’ve never had more power to communicate with each other, but it seems increasingly difficult to see each other’s humanity. In this system, Biden isn’t just bad—he’s an evil globalist lizard person. In this system, Trump isn’t just disgraceful—he’s a democracy-destroying demon. Democrats are despicable! Republicans are traitors!”

I agree with Hamish. We must cool our heated conversations. Let’s watch how we speak. Disagree—but do it with respect for your fellow American.

Political conventions are raucous affairs, designed to celebrate causes and candidates…and our Democratic institutions. As well they should.

But I, for one, will be monitoring both conventions for policies and political tone in the wake of this awful shooting. For I’ve come to the conclusion that we, the people, caught up in a political cauldron of hate, may well be the greatest threat to democracy.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, penned a lengthy thread on X about the hyperbole in American politics, urging politicians to stop framing their opponents as fascists. He suggests that people “…start by dropping hyperbolic threats about the stakes of this election. It should not be misleadingly portrayed as a struggle between democracy or authoritarianism or a battle against fascists or socialists bent on destroying America. These are dangerous lies.”

These are wise, measured words.

What an unbelievable twist of Providence that prompted Mr. Trump to turn his head slightly to read a chart at the exact moment a bullet intended to explode his head merely nicked his ear. Centimeters closer, and the event would have thrown this nation into total disarray.

Divine intervention?

Each person must decide for themselves.