In the debate or the ring of modern democracies, political opponents often attack each other in a brutal way. In the United States we have seen the same from Democrats as from Republicans. But the demonization of a politician by the media is really the most damaging and dangerous thing. It is a bad practice that can end up provoking, legitimizing and even trying in some dark way to justify criminal actions such as the one that the attacked American democracy has just suffered. There are already those who, instead of condemning the terrorist, blame Trump himself for the attack against him. It is not surprising.
Many feared that an assassination attempt could occur, especially at a time when, despite prosecutions and smear campaigns, the former president’s popularity is growing, while President Biden’s approval rating is not to the Democrats’ liking. Curiously, when Biden was asked about the attack on Trump, he replied that he did not know.
It has been a while since we have witnessed an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate in the United States. It is too early to draw conclusions from what happened. After this failed attack on the 45th president, which took place at a campaign event in Butler, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, reports have indicated that about 9 shots were heard. Several of them were fired by the Secret Service, whose assault team killed the sniper.
The shots were heard just 5 minutes into his speech, just after 6:00 p.m. Unfortunately, another person in the audience died. And there was also a serious injury. These victims were the first thing Trump regretted, according to his statements. A former member of the Secret Service has said that he cannot explain how the sniper, who due to his actions and emotional control must have had military training, was able to enter with a rifle into the perimeter of the rally, supposedly controlled by the Secret Service, 130 meters from Trump’s podium. Others do not rule out that it was an act of international terrorism.
One man testified in an interview that he saw the shooter crawling on a roof and tried to alert the Secret Service and police. “We noticed there was a bear crawling on the roof with a rifle (…) I stood there pointing at him for 2 or 3 minutes and the Secret Service was watching us (…) The Secret Service blew his head off. They crawled up on the roof and made sure he was dead,” the alleged witness said.
In response to these statements, Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) wrote on his platform: “The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign.”
We saw how Biden and the Democrats’ main rival, feeling the graze of the bullet, had to take cover behind the podium, and immediately, as protocol requires, was surrounded by Secret Service agents, as shown in a video that has been reproduced millions of times on social media. Before being taken off the stage, stained with blood, Trump raised his fist towards the crowd who, despite their horror, applauded him. Many also raised their fists. This gesture by Trump has been praised on social media. Millions of comments on X (formerly Twitter) condemn the assassination attempt and express support for Trump.
What direction will the campaigns of former President Trump and President Biden take now, after what happened? What will the polls say and how will their results be interpreted? What will be the conclusions of the press, which has largely been dedicated to demonizing Trump, the MAGA movement and anyone who supports the administration of the former Republican president?
We have all seen the popular support that Trump continues to receive after eight years. Thousands of people happily gathered at the rally in Pennsylvania, a state dominated by the Democrats. It was there that Trump was expected to announce his running mate, a week before the Republican National Convention. The news of who will be his vice-presidential candidate will have to wait.
The New York Post has claimed that the person who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. But who was this shooter and, above all, why did he risk death trying to kill Biden’s strongest opponent? Was he a sick Trump hater? A mere emotionally destabilized mortal? A hitman paid by a political enemy? Someone blackmailed? A scapegoat? A kamikaze of the radical left? Who was he and why did he do it?
Much more information will soon emerge. Hundreds of guesses will soon emerge. They can conduct a lot of investigations, but since the shooter was eliminated, he cannot be questioned.
The Secret Service says it has “implemented protective measures” following the attack and that the former president “is safe.” “This is now an active Secret Service investigation and more information will be released when it becomes available,” the statement said.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump thanked law enforcement and first responders “for their swift action during this heinous act.” According to Cheung, Trump was examined at a local medical center and is doing well. That is the only good news. Because the person killed at the rally by the killer is the most painful and irreparable part of this sad and shameful event.
Following the assassination attempt, the 45th President issued the following statement: “I want to thank the United States Secret Service and all law enforcement for their quick response to the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to express my deepest condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person who was seriously injured. It is unbelievable that such an act could occur in our Country. There is no word at this time on the shooter, who was killed. From the bullet going through the top of my right ear, I knew immediately something was wrong because I heard a whizzing sound, gunshots, and I immediately felt the bullet go through the skin and bleeding heavily, then I realized what was happening. It was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
One of the sons of former President Donald Trump Jr., after the attempt to assassinate his father, published on X the photograph that precedes this column, taken by AP News Agency photographer Evan Vucci, where Trump is seen raising his fist, with an American flag waving behind him, while being taken off the stage by Secret Service agents. Trump Jr. accompanied the symbolic image with the following phrase, no less symbolic, almost an axiom: “He will never stop fighting to save America.” The photo by Vucci, winner of the Pulitzer and Edward R. Murrow prizes, has gone around the world and some hope that he will be awarded another prize for the iconic snapshot of this tragic July 13, 2024.
The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, another of those who reproduced the photo on X, wrote: “All my support and solidarity to President and candidate Donald Trump, victim of a COWARDLY assassination attempt that put his life and the lives of hundreds of people at risk. The desperation of the international left is not surprising, as it now sees its nefarious ideology expire, and is willing to destabilize democracies and promote violence to cling to power. Panicked to lose at the polls, they resort to terrorism to impose their retrograde and authoritarian agenda. I hope for President Trump’s speedy recovery and that the elections in the United States are held in a fair, peaceful and democratic manner,” asked Milei, the first libertarian president in history.
Also on X, analyst Fernando Amadís wrote: “A DAY OF INFAMY! It was supposed to be a fatal shot to the head. Democrats tried to impeach him, try him, convict him, call him Hitler and a fascist, arrest him, but they couldn’t stop him from leaving the presidency, so a deranged assassin tried to kill him. Unfortunately, a rally-goer died. TRUMP SURVIVED!”
Never in history has a democratically elected president with a very high level of popular support been so attacked by the media, which mostly leans to the left, as Donald Trump continues to be, before, during and after his presidency. After this unfortunate event, it is important to ask: What responsibility do the media have in all this?
Many questions arise.
How will Trump’s campaign continue? What strategy will Biden and the Democrats follow? What effect will this assassination attempt have on voters?
Since 2016, all of Trump’s campaign events have been attended by crowds of supporters, unlike Biden’s events, which have historically been attended by very few people.
Will some of Trump’s supporters now be afraid to attend his mass events? Or will this criminal act have a different impact and people will rise above the threat, assuming that standing with Trump is defending their own rights and freedoms, in the face of what they consider any attempt to intimidate, silence and defeat them? Will all this, instead of harming, end up benefiting Trump at the polls?
Therefore, no criminal act should prevent the American people from acting accordingly. The political and socioeconomic crisis that the country is experiencing is undeniable. Democracy, as we have seen throughout history, is fragile to corruption and manipulation, but it is the method we have today to express our political criteria and decisions.
Unnecessary violence brings bad results. The Republic can be saved through democracy, despite its cracks. Freedom is not a journey without obstacles or threats: it is an eternal struggle between good and evil. And it is impossible to save the nation if Americans, transcending their partisan attachments, do not act with determination, intelligence, sincerity, courage and, above all, common sense.
They tried to assassinate Trump, but the image that stands out is that of his raised fist, with the American flag waving behind him, guarding him, and him defending it. This is the interpretation, for millions of Americans, of the photo of the day, which will undoubtedly be the photo of the year. Perhaps of the decade.
Meanwhile, Biden will continue to slide again and again into his decadence, ridiculous for this country and for the world. More than a bad president, for many Biden projects the image of a puppet supported by the panting of his own stubbornness and by the interests of the Democratic Party establishment, which are not the interests of the American people.
Trump, with his flaws and virtues, will continue his battle to make America great again. For him, who became a multimillionaire outside of politics and who will continue to risk being assassinated to defend his ideas: this is not just a campaign slogan.
I end with what his eldest son, one of those who knows him best, said after he narrowly missed his father’s assassination: “He will never stop fighting to save America.” No one with any common sense could question that perseverance. Hopefully, most Americans will recognize it next November.
