Whatever the motives, Trump has just won a new level of legitimacy. I cannot know whether Democrats are doing any good domestically, but their global policies are a mess. The democratic establishment looks like it is giving up.
What do we know about the assassination attempt:
On July 13, 2024, an assassination attempt was made on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Here are the key details about the incident:
- The Shooting:
– Shots were fired while Trump was speaking at the rally[1][2].
– Trump was injured, with a bullet grazing the upper part of his right ear[4].
– The former president was quickly rushed off stage by Secret Service agents[1].
- The Shooter:
– The gunman was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania[4].
– Crooks was armed with an AR-15 rifle and fired from a rooftop approximately 410 feet (about 130 meters) away from the stage[5][6].
– He was a registered Republican, though he had previously made a small donation to a left-leaning political action committee[4].
- Casualties:
– The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents[4].
– One rally attendee was killed in the shooting[1].
– Two other spectators were severely injured[7].
- Investigation:
– The FBI is investigating the incident as an attempted assassination[3].
– Authorities stated that Crooks had no apparent ties to foreign terrorism and was not previously known to law enforcement[5].
– The motive for the shooting is still under investigation[5].
- Aftermath:
– Trump emerged from the incident relatively unharmed, defiantly raising his fist to the crowd after being escorted off stage[6].
– The incident has sparked discussions about political violence and polarization in the United States[7].
– Both Trump and Biden campaigns are likely to address the incident in their upcoming campaign activities[7].
- Security Measures:
– The Secret Service had deployed protective measures at the rally, including personnel around the stage[5].
– The shooting occurred outside the security perimeter set up by the Secret Service[5].
This assassination attempt has significant implications for the ongoing presidential campaign and has reignited debates about political violence and security measures for high-profile politicians in the United States.
Citations:
1. CBS News – Possible Shots Fired at Trump Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
2. AP News – Election Updates: Biden and Trump Campaign
3. ABC News – Trump Calls for Unity After Apparent Assassination Attempt
4. Al Jazeera – What We Know About Thomas Matthew Crooks, the Suspected Trump Rally Shooter
5. CBS News – Trump Rally Shooting in Pennsylvania
6. BBC – Trump Rally Shooting Incident
7. Al Jazeera – The Trump Assassination Attempt: A Race Reset and More Polarisation
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Dear Erkan,
A little surprised by your opening comment — I don’t see how the shooting increases Trump’s “legitimacy"; it might temporarily gain him some sympathy, but those who incite violence from the podium sometime suffer the results (see the Al Jazeera column by Rhodes you post). I guess Trump’s reaction might be either: we need to control military rifles on our streets (unlikely) or everyone should arm themselves in self defense (more likely).You don’t think rebuilding infrastructure (promised for four years by Trump, with no results), rebuilding an industrial economic program (e.g. the Chips Act), adding millions to health care insurance (that Trump has wanted to destroy), reducing insulin costs to something diabetics can afford, and appointing an important liberal justice to the Supreme Court (after Trump packing the court with two right wing justices --- Gorsusch and Kavanaugh — who got approved by the Senate swearing Dobbs (a woman’s right to choose was settled law) and overturned Dobbs, and then seem to be protecting Trump from facing the right of the public to have a speedy and fair trial of Trump for his interference in the last election by both delays and now giving him cover of “immunity” for acts in office (including election tampering) — asking a Governor (Georgia) to find votes for him, and encouraging legislators (in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona) to file false elector slates is criminal and treasonous, never mind his public incitement of, and private celebration of, the attack on the capital.
You think Trump’s foreign policy is better than Biden’s? Go ahead Putin, we’ll protect you from Zelensky by stopping our aid to him. Oh sure we’ll curb China by putting a tariff on everything they sell us, forget the alliance with Korea-Japan, Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In any case, do read the Manifesto 2025 by the Heritage Foundation, that proposes many of the lines Trump has used from the podium including getting rid of the civil service in favor of cadres who will do the President's bidding. Much of the rhetoric is just standard conservative common sense, but hidden in it are such zingers as the above. And do pay attention to the journalists who have tracked the way the Federalist Society has been able to pack the courts with right wing justices (Roberts to Kavanaugh).
Yes, Dems are eating themselves up over Biden’s age and stumbling over names (as he has for many years), but hardly giving up. Poll numbers (for what they are worth) haven’t moved much in months.
I wonder what an analyst of the media has to say about the way (even the liberal) press is trying to drum Biden out of office. The Stephanopolis interview was astonishing to have him hound Biden over and over again with essentially the same question — Biden held his ground well and did not display anger. Too bad Biden didn’t say he wouldn’t run two years ago when either V-P Kamela Harris or another younger Dem could have stepped in smoothly, but aside from the terrible first debate night, Biden has acquitted himself quite well in public since, including his recent press conference that lasted an hour (but which the press did not give him credit for, only repeating that he misspoke two names — did you actually watch it, the whole hour? among the pundits the only really sane one was Michael Steele, the former National Republican Committee chair).
love,
Mike
Dear Mike, thank you for your informative and kind reply. I might have misused the term legitimacy here. My point is that Trump seems to have gotten a “heroic” aspect. This process is not about a rational process. Turkey has gone through a somewhat similar process. The opposition have provided so many rational arguments against the government but this had little impact on the voter bases until very recently. I cannot disagree with Biden’s domestic policies. What I am a little hopeless is that whether all these will have an impact on the emotional realms of voters.