Getty ImagesThe 2024 campaign has emerged with a new iconic image: Donald Trump, nearly seriously injured or killed by an assassin’s bullet, standing with his fists raised, streaks of blood on his face, an American flag flapping in the breeze behind him Flying in the air.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” the former president said, as some supporters who not long ago feared for their lives began to cheer.
The bloodshed in Pennsylvania will leave a lasting mark on the American psyche, puncturing the veneer of security at the highest levels of presidential politics — magnetic shields, bulletproof limousines and heavily armed Secret Service agents. Even a former president is not immune to the violence that can erupt in daily life in the United States.
It was also a dramatic moment in American political history. It will surely be replayed in film clips, still photos and testimony throughout the presidential campaign and in future campaigns.
President Joe Biden made a rare speech in the Oval Office on Sunday night, calling on Americans to cool down the political debate.
“[It] It must not become a battlefield and, God forbid, a killing field,” he warned. “No matter how strong our convictions, we must not fall into violence.
The attack has begun to spread across America’s partisan conversations, with many Republicans publicly blaming President Biden and Democrats for creating a rhetorical environment conducive to violence.
They point to dire warnings about the former president becoming a dictator and threatening democracy as examples of the kind of outrageous language that could inspire assassins.
They highlighted leaked comments the president made privately to donors last week that involved escalating attacks on the former president’s record and casting him as a “bullseye.”
“They’re trying to get rid of him in many other ways, financially, they’re trying to put him in jail,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a television interview on Sunday. “It’s like they want this to happen.”
Yet, at least so far, there are questions about the motives and politics of the alleged assassin, 20-year-old Pennsylvania resident Thomas Matthew Crooks. They may end up going against a simple partisan narrative.
The former president’s eldest son went on to add that in the wake of the assassination attempt, the left can no longer blame the former president for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The violence occurred hours after the then-president held a rally dozens of blocks away to challenge the 2020 election results. His actions that day led to the House impeaching him, and more than a year later he was indicted by a special prosecutor appointed by the U.S. attorney general.
If the Pennsylvania shooting quells this criticism from Democrats, it’s just one way to fundamentally reshape this presidential campaign. Others may become clear on Monday during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The failed attacks on the former president fit into several themes the Trump campaign has planned for the quadrennial gathering that culminates with Trump taking the stage Thursday night to accept the party’s nomination.
First, it risks fueling the politics of discontent and persecution that have been a core focus of his rally speeches and social media posts.
“They’re not really after me; they’re after me. They’re after you,” is a common refrain from Trump on T-shirts, billboards and car stickers. “I’m just in the way.” “
That message will take on new strength after the former president and his supporters were shot with bullets. Trump’s legions of fans — many of whose support borders on messianic hero worship — will have even more reason to identify with a man who nearly died in front of them.
Getty ImagesThe former president’s brush with death and subsequent bloody act of defiance would also dovetail with the contrast Trump campaign officials say they are trying to draw from this week’s convention – where their Candidates and parties embody rugged masculinity and strength while their opponents are weak.
President Joe Biden’s age and competence have dogged his campaign for months and led to a disastrous performance in the presidential debates two weeks ago, sparking a crisis of confidence among Democrats in his re-election efforts.
Saturday night’s attack, and Trump’s response to it, will put that contrast on stark display for Republicans in the coming days.
Democrats have spent the past two weeks painfully reflecting on the president’s political future. Now, they have a new set of worries.
To some extent, the assassination attempt could ultimately provide Biden with a political lifeline as attention shifts away from his age-related struggles and internal efforts to oust him. But if the American public becomes hostile to new, strident criticism of Trump, the president’s reelection strategy – which hinges on portraying Trump as a threat to the country if he is re-elected – could be seriously undermined. hinder.
The Biden campaign has pulled all negative ads targeting the former president to avoid being seen as inappropriate given the national mood. The president also rescheduled a trip to Texas scheduled for Monday.
This is just a pause, however, and Democrats will need to renew their offensive if they hope to erase the slim lead held by the former president.
That lead — small, but not insurmountable, but still significant — has held steady for months even as national politics has been buffeted by a seemingly endless stream of unprecedented news coverage.
The former president’s trial and conviction, a series of landmark Supreme Court rulings, Biden’s debate failures — none of this appears to have changed the direction of American politics, as the country has been and is destined to remain a deeply divided country .
While there’s been much discussion about how the assassination attempt could upend this presidential campaign, there’s no guarantee the race won’t return to a near-death tie three months before Election Day.
Only now, Democrats have less time, less money, and less political oxygen to swing the electoral dynamics in their favor.
Yet Saturday night’s tragedy showed most clearly that expectations and political narratives can change in a matter of seconds.
