When Matthew Crooks aimed his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at Donald Trump and pulled the trigger, America suffered another tragedy. Political violence undermines democracy and spawns more violence. And no candidates for public office, regardless of their politics, deserve to be shot.
Decent Americans are grateful that Donald Trump survived the assassination attempt, but Trump is not owed the presidency because a deranged 20-year-old tried to kill him. The Donald Trump that survived the shooting is the same Trump that many of us considered unfit for the presidency before July 13.
Since the shooting, President Biden has called for calm and unity. Donald Trump tweeted support for “unity,” but somehow, I wonder if the ex-president and Joe Biden were thinking the same thing.
Donald Trump was lucky in more ways than one on the 13th, starting with the shooter missing him. He also showed astuteness. Possibly knowing the significance of getting shot and surviving, Trump, intentionally or otherwise, posed for photos that will be ubiquitous in the coming months. Trump shouts, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” with a fist in the air, a bloody ear, and streaks of blood on his face. Within hours of the photos being released, news outlets described them as iconic and suggested they could change the outcome of the election.
The Trump campaign also immediately recognized that shocked and outraged Trump supporters would want to “do something.” So, they immediately launched a fund-raising campaign featuring a Trump quote: “I will never surrender!” The piece did not mention the shooting. It did not have to.
Pundits now tell us that the assassination attempt will guarantee Trump’s victory in November. Let’s hope they are wrong.
Various Trump allies have also been busy tweeting nonsense. I have read that Democrats and “the left” were behind the assassination attempt. One Senator, Mike Lee of Utah, even suggested that federal criminal charges against Trump should be dropped. More nonsense, overreaction, opportunism, and lies will follow.
In the days immediately preceding the shooting, President Biden, still reeling from his June 27 presidential debate meltdown, stepped up his criticism of Donald Trump. Biden reminded voters of Trump’s complicity in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, and his policy agenda, outlined in “Project 2025.”
As most have us that follow politics have read, President Biden told attendees at a recent fundraiser, “It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” Biden’s statement has led some disingenuous Republicans, including Trump’s vice presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, to suggest that Biden motivated the would-be assassin. This is nonsense.
Biden told fundraiser attendees: “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump. I’m absolutely certain I’m the best person to be able to do that. So, we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
In context, Biden’s statement is hardly a call to violence. It is about defeating Donald Trump in November. It is a mild statement compared to Trump’s calls for “retribution” and demand that General Mark Milley be executed for treason.
Until yesterday, the most recent act of political violence was the 2021 insurrection, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, including police officers and a Trump supporter who was attempting to violently break into the chamber of the House of Representatives. Rioters at the Trump-inspired insurrection also sought to assassinate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and hang Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence. Trump allegedly commented that Pence deserved to be hung.
Will the assassination attempt benefit Trump? Unfortunately, it probably will. History suggests that the attempt will create sympathy towards Trump. His support among his base will strengthen. Perhaps more importantly, Democrats and other critics of Trump will become more cautious in attacking him. Trump will also continue to use the event for fundraising, just as he did after his mug shot was taken in the Fulton County Jail in connection with his Georgia indictment.
Multiple speakers at this week’s Republican National Convention are praising Trump for his courage, and video of the shooting has been played on screens in the arena. Trump is being cast as a hero, with the shooting just the latest failed attempt to block him from regaining the White House that was stolen from him in 2020.
Dare I say it? The shooting was more a tragedy for American democracy than for Trump. The ex-president’s chances of being elected in November have increased. The likelihood of American democracy surviving into the 2030s has decreased.
All decent Americans regret the assassination attempt at Donald Trump, but what happened on July 13 should not prompt President Biden and the Democrats from doing all they can to defeat Trump in November.
The scope of Saturday’s tragedy will be fully appreciated if Trump returns to power.
Nothing that happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, makes Trump any more fit to be president than before the shooting.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects.
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