Trump shifts focus from apparent second assassination attempt to more inflammatory allegations
After a bullet brushed past his ear during a tragic shooting that claimed a life at a rally in July, Trump temporarily appeared to undergo a transformation, expressing to The Washington Examiner's Salena Zito a desire to unite the country and the world. Regrettably, this change of heart did not last beyond the inaugural segment of his convention speech.
The Secret Service managed to disarm a potential threat who had apparently been planning to harm Trump at one of his Florida golf courses last Sunday. Trump's reaction to this incident was significantly different. He accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of inviting assassins to target him after voicing concerns about Trump posing a danger to democracy.
On Monday, Trump, without providing any evidence, accused the would-be shooter of being influenced by Biden and Harris's "rhetoric." He argued that their rhetoric was causing his own attempted assassination, while he was the one committed to saving the country, and they were the ones responsible for its destruction, both internally and externally.
Trump employed a familiar trope of totalitarian leaders, labeling the suspect and others like him as "dangerous fools" who are easily swayed by what Democratic leaders say and act upon what he baselessly claims is a coordinated effort by the White House to use the justice system to persecute him.
Vance claims that no one has attempted to assassinate Harris
Trump's running mate took a more direct approach to the argument.
"The fundamental disparity between conservatives and liberals is that no one has attempted to assassinate Kamala Harris in the recent past, while two attempts have been made on Donald Trump during the same period," Ohio Sen. JD Vance said.
"I'd say that's quite compelling evidence that the left should tone down their rhetoric and abandon these tactics," Vance continued, referencing his previous denial of incitement after spreading false claims about Haitian refugees.
Intense political debates over the Sunday incident
Enduring two attempts on his life in just two months would be taxing for anyone. Trump is also dealing with an election, which is currently in a dead heat between him and the vice president, according to most polls.
Republican Politician Tim Pawlenty told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday that anyone who had been targeted for assassination might be "sensitive, agitated and worried," a response that is understandable.
Murderously attempting to influence the outcome of an election should be abhorrent to anyone who values democracy and the right of voters to choose their leaders. However, the motives of the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, remain unclear. Although he advocated for increased aid to Ukraine, a stance in conflict with Trump's promise to end the war with Russia.
But Trump's claims that Biden and Harris bear direct responsibility for the attempts on his life underscore his own extreme political inclinations. His suggestion that their warnings about his supposed threat to democracy put his life at risk implies that it's illegitimate for his opponents to point out the truth: that his past behavior, including attempts to alter the 2020 election results and falsely accusing this year's voting of corruption, poses a threat to America's democratic system. His stance, resembling an attempt to suppress free speech, may also be a troubling sign of how he would behave if re-elected.
Despite the heated political exchanges, there was one moment that evoked a sense of lost political decency on Monday. Biden and Trump had a phone conversation, with Biden expressing relief that Trump had survived the attempt. Trump later expressed gratitude for the call, describing it as "very nice."
Republicans blame Democrats for incitement and inflammatory rhetoric
Incitement and inflammatory language often depend on perspective. Republicans took offense at Biden's statement in August 2022 that the MAGA movement's philosophical foundation was akin to "semi-fascism," although this comment did not become a staple of Biden's rhetoric. New York Rep. Daniel Goldman, a Democrat, created controversy when he said last year that Trump needed to be "eliminated" — a comment that Vance referenced on Monday. Goldman quickly retracted his statement, expressing regret for his "poor choice of words" and admitting he had no intention of causing harm to Trump.
However, if Democrats are sometimes guilty of excessive rhetoric, Trump has built a political career on the most outrageous rhetoric spoken by a president or former president in modern American history. The scale and intensity of his vitriol surpass anything the Democrats have directed at him. He frequently labels Harris a "fascist" at public events — for example, he said on August 26 in Virginia that "we have a fascist person running who's incompetent." He used similar language on August 23, August 17, and August 3 in campaign appearances.
Previously this year, he asserted that Biden was operating a "Gestapo administration," referring to the brutal Nazi secret police. He echoed the language of some of history's most malevolent tyrants, labeling his political adversaries as "pests" and warning that immigrants were "contaminating" the United States' essence.
When he refused to acknowledge his defeat in the 2020 election, Trump summoned his supporters to Washington DC and exhorted them to "fight like hell" or face losing their country. His supporters subsequently breached the US Capitol in an attempt to impede Biden's victory certification. Trump subsequently characterized those incarcerated for the events of January 6, 2021, as political prisoners, and hinted at pardoning them should he regain the White House in November.
Even now, Trump is indicating he will only recognize this year's election result if he deems it just and has threatened to imprison officials and opponents should he regain power.
"He exploits people's fears, he exploits people's anxieties. He defines us with hate and fear," Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell stated at a Monday campaign event for Harris. "This violence must cease, but we also need to comprehend who and what he is and how much he is exacerbating it," she added, continuing, "He has not pledged to accept the election results."
Social media has frequently helped Trump introduce venom into political discourse. Following Sunday's incident, one of his most prominent supporters — Elon Musk, who controls X — questioned why Trump had faced two apparent assassination attempts while his rivals had not encountered any. "And no one is even attempting to assassinate Biden/Kamala," Musk posted in the since-deleted post. He later contended the post had been a jest, although given America's violent political history and assassinations of four US presidents, it's challenging to perceive how individuals might find such remarks amusing.
Trump and his allies' rhetoric has also made life perilous for others. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former government's infectious diseases expert, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins this year that when he is attacked, for instance, by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in congressional hearings, the number of death threats against him increases. "There is a segment of the population out there that believes such nonsense," Fauci said.
Media organizations and election workers have also been targeted by threats following Trump's baseless attacks. Prosecutors and judges require additional security while overseeing Trump cases and being the target of his daily tirades.
And even as the shocking aftermath of another apparent attempt on Trump's life unfolds, the impact of his and Vance's rhetoric is evident in Springfield, Ohio.
After Trump amplified the false claims during the debate, Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine dispatched the state highway patrol to monitor city schools that faced bomb threats. Elsewhere in Springfield, classes at Wittenberg University were held remotely Monday while campus police and local law enforcement assessed emailed threats of a bombing and a campus shooting that targeted "members of the Haitian community," the university stated.
In his interview on "State of the Union," Vance stated that any suggestion that he or Trump had acted in a way that incited such threats was "disgusting."
It's also disgusting that anyone would consider assassinating a former president running in a democratic election. However, the historical record demonstrates that while Trump has become a target of a toxic political climate, he's also one of its principal instigators.
Trump continued to blame Biden and Harris for the attempts on his life, stating on Tuesday that the threats against him were a result of their rhetoric. He argued that their warnings about his supposed threat to democracy were responsible for putting his life at risk.
Vance, Trump's running mate, countered this argument by highlighting the lack of attempted assassinations on Harris. He stated that the fact that no one had tried to assassinate Harris in recent times was compelling evidence that Democrats should tone down their rhetoric.
