Some thoughts on yesterday’s assassination attempt on Trump:
1. Needless to say, I condemn the attack. Violence is not the way to solve our political problems. It’s worth remembering that Trump was not the only victim. One rally participant was killed, and two others were injured. The spectator who was killed was former firefighter Cory Comperatore. Bravely die protecting your family. The shooting of these three people is more reprehensible than Trump. No one deserves to die just because they attended a political rally. Trump’s wrongdoings should be dealt with through the legal and political system, not random violence.
I’ve never actually been shot, but I’ve personally experienced politically motivated death threats, including one from Cesar Sayoc, a right-wing nationalist who was later revealed to be the “pipe bomber.” I don’t want that to continue to spread.
Could political assassination be justified? I think it could be. Fanny Kaplan It was right to try to kill Lenin, von Stauffenberg and others The right to assassinate Hitler. But unlike Lenin and Hitler’s men, we do not face the same scale of evil, and more importantly, we still have peaceful means to combat it.
2. Contrary to gaslighting, there is no contradiction between condemning the attack and saying that Trump is an authoritarian, an enemy of fundamental liberal values, and a threat to democracy. The man tried to use force and fraud to maintain power after losing the election.advertise A rebellion broke out during the process.) threaten to use government powerPunishing political opponents, brutalizing thousands of innocent children with illegal family separation policies, etc. It is completely legitimate to point this out. What happened yesterday does not diminish Trump’s evil. He is not Hitler. But being a regular dictator wannabe is bad enough. It is enough to warrant harsh criticism and harsh investigation.
3. It is worth noting that nearly every prominent Democrat has said the following: President Biden Down, he condemned yesterday’s attack unconditionally. Meanwhile, Trump and many of his allies Defending and Praising the Attackers on January 6And they downplay other political violence by their supporters (e.g. Attack on Nancy Pelosi’s Husband) For those keeping score, prominent Democrats (including: Biden And Barack Obama also condemned the riots after George Floyd (as did I at the time). There are plenty of terrible people and politicians in both major political parties who abuse their power (e.g. I have Biden’s repeated Attempt to rob the Treasury for a student loan forgiveness program) But the two parties are not morally equal when it comes to encouraging and excusing political violence by their supporters.
4. Now we know the shooter. He was a registered Republican and once donated $15 to Act Blue. (Left-wing political fundraising group). This combination is not as surprising as it might seem. Many people have unusual political views that do not fit neatly into the left-right political spectrum. This is also true for many perpetrators of political assassinations. This person may have had a strange political motivation that only made sense to him. Or, he may have had an even stranger non-political motivation. Remember. John Hinckley (The man who almost killed Reagan) did it because he thought it would impress Jodie Foster and convince her to date him. We will know more about the current shooter’s motive in the coming days. Until then, we should avoid making unsubstantiated claims about them.
5. I fear that Trump will gain sympathy from this incident. It may only be a few percentage points in the upcoming election, but it could be decisive in a close race. If so, the Democrats will be more desperate than ever. Replace Biden with a stronger candidate.
6. Those who claim that the Democrats and Biden tried to kill Trump to stay in power should remember that if Trump were assassinated, the Republicans could replace him with a more popular candidate. also The assassination would free Trump from his negative baggage while gaining sympathy. That would actually make the Republicans more likely to win the election than if the attack had never happened. Biden’s narrow self-interest was better off keeping Trump as his opponent. There are other problems with conspiracy theories, but this is a big one that has not been mentioned anywhere else.
