Something Like This

Something like this was bound to happen.  Yesterday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump is yet another manifesting of the roiling stream of violence churning beneath the surface of American life. 

It could have been worse.  But for the quick reaction to shots fired from outside the crowd by the Secret Service the incident would have joined a sordid history of political murder in this country.  It is bad enough an innocent bystander at the Pennsylvania rally died and two others were injured.  It is a sobering thought to know that even with extensive security precautions a would-be killer can come within millimeters of taking down a president.

Naturally the intended target immediately grasped the optics of his near-miss.  Blood trickling from his injured ear, Trump greeted the crowd with an upraised fist as his bodyguards hustled him away.  Predictably, he attributed his deliverance to God.  Millions of others undoubtedly believe this.  The attempt also serves to further the shared sense of grievance and need for a martyr among the base.

As time goes on the thread of our political narrative becomes snagged.  Presidential elections used to be routine affairs; they came, they went.  There were occasional complications, as in the case of the 2000 election, but for almost a half century most passed without incident.  Perhaps we should have seen it coming with the Tea Party movement, but the surprise outcome of 2016 remains just that.  More accurately, it was an all-around surprise at the time but has become a divinely ordained event to Trump’s more fervent supporters.    

Given that last tenet, the public reaction to the incident is as expected.  Commentators from the left expressed relief the attempt failed.  From the right, the rhetoric from Trump’s opponents was to blame.  As for the shooter, little is known at present other than his name, his age, and a few biographical tidbits.  He is reported to have been a registered Republican who also made a small contribution to a liberal group, but neither fact really has any bearing on what he did.  The demographics track; he was a twentysomething white male.  But his motive is a mystery.

It's certain that Trump’s brush with death will pervade the discourse at next week’s Republican National Convention.  It will likely become a theme in campaign media as we near the election.  Perhaps it will have an effect on undecided voters.  Trump’s sangfroid does enhance his image.  Whether this will be the case several weeks from now remains to be seen.  But the fact that something like this has happened is an ominous sign of our polarization.

 

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