The images of former President Donald Trump being shot on Saturday, and rising from the floor holding his fist up to the crowd, are undeniably historic. Trump first reached for his ear, collapsing behind the podium as Secret Service agents stormed the stage, before standing back up. But beyond its shock value, this event underscores the dire state of his nation, more divided than at any point in the past 60 years, filled with mentally unstable people, saturated with firearms as well as the constant stream of social media nonsense and political misinformation, and seemingly on the brink of uncontrollable violence. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks from Pennsylvania, was later confirmed dead.
The shooting, as it happened
(Video: CNN)
Trump's campaign rallies almost always take place at makeshift venues in open fields in the most rural parts of the U.S., and are dismantled immediately after the events conclude. These areas are home to his voter base, and his supporters make the sometimes arduous journey to attend.
Security is always somewhat problematic due to the temporary nature of the facilities and their isolation. Last night, the shots were fired from the roof of a nearby building with an automatic weapon, the kind routinely used in numerous horrific shooting incidents in the U.S.
The question of how such a security lapse occurred will be a focus of the investigation, and inevitably, the subject of countless conspiracy theories that immediately flooded social media. The U.S. has always been a hotbed for conspiracy theories but never as much as in the past decade with the spread of such media platforms. On X, formerly Twitter, there was already a whole discussion around the hashtag "Jews tried to assassinate Trump."
Though it’s still early to fully gauge how this event will affect the election campaign, its implications are bound to be significant. On Monday the Republican National Convention is set to begin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city, which until yesterday planned to allow weapons in the area outside the hall. Now, presumably, all original plans will be scrapped, but the atmosphere is expected to be particularly explosive.
Harsh words will be spoken on the stage at the convention. Already tonight, Republican Representative Mike Collins blamed U.S. President Joe Biden for the attempt on Trump's life. "Joe Biden gave the order," and demanded that the president be indicted "for incitement to assassination," he said in a post on X; J.D. Vance, a leading candidate to be Trump's running mate, tweeted, "This is not an isolated incident, this is the result of Joe Biden's campaign to stop Donald Trump at any cost."
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Conspiracy theories already circling about Biden's 'involvement'
(Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
Trump will receive a hero's welcome in Milwaukee, and will gain political mileage. His son Eric wasted no time posting the soon-to-be-iconic photo, writing, "This is the fighter America needs"—raising the pressing question of who will halt the rapid descent of the U.S. into chaos.
About two years ago, a mentally disturbed Trump supporter attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, at their San Francisco residence. He tied him up and struck his head with a hammer. Pelosi's life was miraculously saved. Since then, at rallies like these, Trump has occasionally mocked Nancy Pelosi, asking, "By the way, does anyone know how her husband is doing?" Today, Pelosi was among the first to condemn the assassination attempt. Political violence is a despicable act that no side can accept, and its condemnation must be sweeping and unequivocal. Otherwise, events like tonight in Pennsylvania will be the way democracies begin to collapse.