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| Trump - moments after an assassination attempt (Chicago Tribune) |
Which is why I completely reject the notion suggested by some that the attempt on the former President’s life is the result of the increased tendency towards violence resulting from Trump’s own rhetoric (which incited the January 6th riots).
Trump’s rhetoric was certainly not responsible for what happened to JFK, RFK, MLK, John Lennon, Ronald Reagan, Gabby Giffords, and Steve Scalise. These are just a few of the names that come quickly to mind of people that were either assassinated or where it was attempted. All within my own lifetime!
So if anyone tries to blame the what happened yesterday on Trump’s own rhetoric, spare me.
No one knows what the motive of the assassin was. He was a 20 year old registered Republican who recently made a $15 donation to a Democratically aligned political group.
If there is any blame to be had, it is on Trump’s security detail. How the shooter accessed the top of a building directly across where Trump was speaking – carrying a long rifle and a tripod without being noticed is a question that has to be answered. I do not see any excuse for overlooking that. It seems like they completely ignored it, allowing the shooter to climb up unnoticed carrying a weapon and then setting up to shoot at him. In the process killing an innocent bystander and seriously wounding a couple more.
After so many political assassinations and attempts one would think that kind of ‘glitch’ could never happen again. And yet that is exactly what DID happen.
Thankfully, the former president was only slightly injured and will be attending the RNC convention in Milwaukee this week. Where he will announce his choice for VP. Security will obviously be beefed up. Glad to hear that. But that horse kind of left the barn already.
I wonder though how many Republican ‘never Trumpers’ are secretly sorry the assassin missed. Had Trump been killed their prayers of ‘anyone but Trump’ would have been answered. Democrats that fear another Trump presidency would end democracy as we know it and turn the US into a autocratic dictatorship would have been relieved by his assassination. I’ll bet there are more than a few of those. Who will never admit it.
Publicly every politician from the entire political spectrum condemned what happened in no uncertain terms. Grateful that Trump was not killed. I think they meant it. And yet I can’t help wondering what was going on deep down in their heart of hearts.
Will anything change as a result of this assassination attempt? I don’t think so. My guess is that polls will remain the same. At the moment the election seems to be in a dead heat.
To say that Trump’s MAGA base will be more energized by this presupposes that they are not at maximum level already. They are about as energized as possible. I don’t think it is humanly possible to become more energized.
Is there anything that can be done legislatively to prevent this from happening again? As someone who supports repealing the 2nd Amendment and outlawing all gun ownership, I don’t think it will prevent an assassin from getting what he needs to get the job done. It would surely reduce people being killed by guns. But it would not eliminate organized attempts to assassinate a politician. They will find a way.
My own view of the former President is complicated. I have mentioned many times all of the things that disqualify him from the presidency. I am not going to rehash them again here. What I am going to do is refute the notion among some that Trump has no redeeming qualities as a human being. That is not true.
Although his rhetoric is awful, his business practices might be seen as brutal and unfair, often seeming to cheat vendors and/or investors out of their just due - when it comes to non business matters Trump has a compassionate streak. He has shown tremendous kindness to individuals in need and has helped them without an ounce of fanfare.
He is also a friend of the Israel and the Jewish people. Especially those of us that are observant. His son in law, Jared is an observant Jew as is his own daughter, Ivanka - who was converted to Judaism by an Orthodox Beis Din. His grandchildren are being educated by an Orthodox Jewish day school. Two of his closest advisers and long term former employees were Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman. Both are observant. Both have repeatedly said that that Israel and the Jewish people had no better friend in the White House than Donald Trump.
Those who keep trying to refute these clear facts with ‘evidence’ to the contrary need to get a life. There is no way that Trump can be classified as anything other than how he was described by his two Orthodox Jewish advisers. At least to those of us that care about our Judaism and do not boil it down to social justice exclusively.
Trump does not deserve to be president. But he should not be prevented from that by being killed. That should happen only at the ballot box.
What if he does become president again? A distinct possibility as things stand now. Will his presidency be as terrible as all the Democrats and never Trumpers say?
I don’t believe that.. Despite all of his pre-election rhetoric - his second term will probably just be a continuation of his first. Which probably means a better policy with respect to Israel and Iran; choosing more conservatives to the Supreme Court (should vacancies come up during his term); and a return to the conservative policies he had then implemented.
Unless you are a diehard liberal who sees that as an unmitigated disaster – that ain’t so bad.