The bullets fired on Saturday during a rally in Pennsylvania that were directed towards Donald Trump are being looked into as possible murder attempts on the current Republican presidential contender and previous president.
There have been several assassination attempts on presidents and presidential candidates throughout American history. Although terrible, what transpired in Pennsylvania is regrettably not unexpected.
Several senior politicians in the United States have condemned the assassination attempt against Donald Trump and asserted that there is place for political violence in America. US President Joe Biden went on to say that violence of this kind is “ unheard of ” in the US.
That really is rather amazing. Political violence served as the foundation for the United States, and such occurrences have characterized the country’s entire history.
In actuality, Biden launched his political career by presenting himself as the 1963 and 1968 presidential assassins of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, respectively.
Nonetheless, it is quite alarming that this incident happened at this particular time, considering how tumultuous the presidential campaign has been thus far and how deeply divided Americans are. Conspiracy theories are emerging in real time on social media in response to the shooting, which has made it possible for this kind of violence to escalate rapidly.
To show how fast political violence might flare up in the US, one need only refer to the US Capitol uprising on January 6, 2021.
This is because, at least in part, members of the far right have been purposefully cultivating violent language in recent years.
Particularly, since the start of Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, there have been simmering undertones of political violence at his rallies.
The prospect of violence has grown to be essential to Trump’s appeal, political persona, and base of supporters. All it takes to hear Trump talk about violence—often in vivid detail and with great relish—is to watch a little portion of any Trump speech or rally.
For example, he has made numerous allusions to conspiracy theories in his description of the 2022 attack against Paul, the husband of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as making fun of and jesting about the incident.
This is a strength of the Trump campaign and the movement that supports him, not a weakness. It also affects the real world.
In 2020, ABC News, a US media outlet, carried out a statewide assessment and found 54 criminal instances in which Trump was mentioned in “direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence or allegations of assault.”
The president of the right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, who created the Project 2025 plan to restructure the US government under a second Trump presidency, spoke just a few weeks ago about a “second American Revolution” that “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
It may be more surprising that an incident of this kind doesn’t occur more frequently or hasn’t already occurred given how constant the danger of violence has grown.
Donald Trump strikes iconic image
The fact that Trump is such a master of the political image is also astonishing. The video of the Pennsylvania shooting shows this: as soon as Trump gets to his feet, he raises his fist in defiance, allowing that moment to be captured on camera.
Naturally, that picture will come to characterize this particular moment, if not Trump’s whole campaign for president.
This campaign has already seen a number of turning points, and this one might be the most important one yet. It might make Trump seem like a saint to his fans instead of a martyr.
It will be crucial to monitor how Trump, his campaign, and those in his immediate vicinity employ this narrative, particularly in the lead-up to the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin in Wisconsin in a few days. Right-wing groups, especially those who favor Trump, are already trying to capitalize on the attempted assassination to spread conspiracy theories and serve as a focal point for the former president.
Even though it doesn’t fairly represent the two candidates, a contrasting picture of them is starting to take shape in light of the fallout from Biden’s debate performance in recent weeks.
It’s possible that the picture of Trump, bleeding and holding up a fist, may come to define his campaign and inspire supporters.
Therefore, it’s very conceivable that this is the very time that Trump wins the election.
