When I heard that Donald Trump was nearly shot at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, my first thought was, “I hope to God he’s okay.”
I think so for the normal reason that we humans want to see other humans not harmed.
But with Donald Trump, there was a different reason.
Trump has made his paranoid martyrdom a pillar of his campaign, and I did not want to add fuel to the fire for his dangerous message.
It would be unkind to speak ill of the man who could have lost his life today, but I must remind you that there is a constant undercurrent of violence in Trump’s campaign message to his supporters. He talks about an America divided between his supporters and an “enemy within” who seeks to destroy both him and his supporters.
On June 24, 2023, after his second indictment, he told his followers:
“They’re not after me. They’re after you. And I just happen to be in their way.”
Trump’s first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas, kicked off with a choir of men jailed in the January 6 riot singing “Justice for All,” with the national anthem playing in between and footage of Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with his hand over his heart. Footage of the storming of the Capitol was projected on a large screen behind him.
Trump then repeated his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” declaring:
“Our enemies have tried so hard to stop us, they have done everything they can to crush our spirit, break our will. But they have failed. They have only made us stronger. And 2024 will be the final battle, and it will be a big one.”Put me back in the White House and their rule will end, and America will be a free country again.”
He plotted against himself and against his supporters.
“In 2016 I declared: I am your voice. Today I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And to those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
After Saturday’s assassination attempt, we can expect more similar delusional martyrdoms by Trump.
Now is not the time to dwell on the direct and disturbing link between Trump’s political rise and the rise in political violence and the threat of such violence in the United States.
Suffice it to say that in 2016, Capitol Police recorded fewer than 900 threats against lawmakers. In 2017, after Trump took office, that number more than quadrupled, Capitol Police said. The number of threats continued to rise every year under Trump, peaking at 9,700 in 2021. In 2022, Biden’s first year in office, threats have fallen to a still-high level of 7,500. (Data for 2023 is not yet available.)
I have much more to say on this topic, but for now, please join me in doing all you can to defuse the hostility and anger that permeates American politics.
And let’s pray that Trump, Biden, and all those running for political office, and all Americans involved in politics, will come free from harm.
