The Nation Considers the Failed Assassination
Our siloed voices are speaking.
Because America has been so deeply and effectively siloed — yes, I think this is deliberate — I want to view the Trump assassination attempt from inside those silos. Some of these views you have seen; others, perhaps not. Or maybe, like many, you're trying to avoid this topic altogether. If so, good luck. We’ll have to live with this like we lived with the Kennedy kill, only differently.
The image below shows the site of the attempt. The leftmost visitor stands, between the shooter and target, were where the bystander was killed. Note the distance: approximately 150 yards, or 450 feet.
Wounds From an AR-15
Before we begin, consider the damage an AR-15 rifle does, via this interactive explainer from the Washington Post.
Thanks to the relatively small bullet's very high speed — about 3000 feet per second, almost three times faster than a standard 9mm bullet — the AR-15 slug "splashes down" (a swimming pool metaphor) with considerable force, causing a wide shock wave of damage around it.
At 3000 ft/sec, the bullet would have arrived in less than a second, which implies, as I listen, that the first shot missed and the second grazed his ear.
Read the Post article for more about these wounds, though a warning — it's grisly stuff. Trump's lucky that it nicked just his ear. Even a glancing wound that damaged the skull could have caused his death.
Let’s take a tour of the silos, shall we, starting with the most conspiratorial. This is a presentation, not an editorial. I’ll reserve comment until the end.
‘Will no one rid us of this meddlesome candidate?’
Among the most conspiratorial, on the left and the right, are these.
It’s Putin’s Fault
There’s a swirl around comments made by the top adviser to many big Democratic donors, Dmitri Mehlhorn:
Top Democratic strategist pushed reporters to consider ‘staged’ shooting
The top political adviser to Democratic mega-donor Reid Hoffman suggested that the attack on Donald Trump could have been “staged,” even as Hoffman was criticized for joking before Saturday’s attack about Trump becoming a “martyr.”
The adviser, Dmitri Mehlhorn, apologized for his remarks after Semafor published this story, and said his email laying out his claims was “drafted without consultation from team members or allies.” […]
“I know I am prone to bias on this, but this is a classic Putin play and given the facts seems more plausible. Look at the actual shot. Look at the staging. Look at how ready Trump is to rally; this pampered baby shit his pants when an eagle lunged at his food. Look at how quickly Trump protects himself at the expense of others, but showed few of those lifelong instincts in this moment. And consider how often Putin and his allies run this play.”
How widespread is this belief before Mehlhorn’s recant is anyone’s guess.
It’s the Deep State’s Fault
Quite a few on the right hold the Democrat-controlled Deep State to blame — the FBI, the CIA and/or the Secret Service. For example:
People who think this way point to comments like this:
It’s the News Media’s Fault
Soon-to-be VP-elect J.D. Vance holds the media to blame: The “central premise,” he says, of the Biden campaign is that “President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.”
He’s not alone in this thought. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “When will the media hold themselves accountable for the violence they incite while pointing the blame everywhere else?”
I suspect she’s not being ironic, but one can’t be sure.
He Brought It on Himself
This is not conspiratorial, but philosophical. Some Democratic “thought leaders” look at right-wing love of guns and retribution and say, in effect, Trump brought this on himself.
David Frum, for example, writing in The Atlantic, says Trump and his failed assassin are each enemies of democracy, joined by "a bullet's trajectory."
President Biden seems partially of this mind. From NBC News on July 15: “In a new interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt on Monday, President Joe Biden defended his language in the lead-up to Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, saying his rival’s rhetoric is the real problem.”
No One Rules Out Secret Service Incompetence
One of the takes, perhaps the most common, involves Secret Service incompetence. Many ex-snipers have weighed in. This person, who provides a nice list of problematic decisions, isn’t quite sure the incompetence isn’t faked. Nevertheless, he ends the thread sensibly: “People, regardless of political affiliation or interest in the elections need to resist emotional conclusions & ask questions.”
And from the New York Post, this back-handed avoidance of conspiracy: “Critics contend [Kimberly Cheatle] the 28-year Secret Service veteran [and chief] has focused too much on woke ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ (DEI) initiatives — such as declaring her intention to make sure the department was 30% women by 2030 — at the expense of security.”
‘No place for political violence in our democracy’
Democratic leaders, however, are sounding one note. To quote Barack Obama, “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy.”
Bill Clinton agrees: “Violence has no place in America, especially in our political process.” The condemnation is near universal. Kamala Harris: “Violence such as this has no place in our nation.” And Speaker Mike Johnson: “This horrific act of violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned.”
Which leads to the problem, and my only personal comment.
‘Your country is backing a literal genocide’
The final silo of voices are those who are standing back and seeing our nation in a broader and more international context. Reread those condemnations above and consider who spoke them — our president and vice-president, two ex-presidents and the current House Speaker. People, in other words, with actual power.
Then consider these thoughts:
Yesterday an American citizen took up arms against the former and potential next president, Donald Trump. And in response, politician after politician has given us some variation on the same statement: political violence is absolutely unacceptable in the United States.
But if this is true, can someone please explain to me why we still have the Second Amendment? …
I cannot understand how one can say that political violence has no place in America and also believe that we have a sacred right to political violence that is supposedly enshrined in our Constitution.
The efforts by the Democratic Party and much of the press, including CNN and The New York Times, to discredit Trump, as if our problems are embodied in him, are futile. The smug, self-righteousness of this crusade against Trump only contributes to the national reality television show that has replaced journalism and politics. This crusade attempts to reduce a social, economic and political crisis to the personality of Trump. It is accompanied by a refusal to confront and name the corporate forces responsible for our failed democracy.
There's An Important Lesson In All These Democrats Wishing Trump A Speedy Recovery
[…] I’ve been getting a lot of shrill, hysterical comments from Americans insisting that it’s somehow heinous and inappropriate for me to use this political moment to highlight the criminality of the US empire as I do every day using every opportunity I can. I would like to make it clear that I have no respect for this. Less than zero respect.
The emotional hysteria we are seeing around the assassination attempt on Trump is very similar to what we saw around 9/11 and October 7, which historically means some deeply unwholesome policies are about to be rolled out by the managers of the empire. Now is the time to be more critical of the imperial power structure, not less.
If you find it horrifying and evil that I am using Trump’s ear owwie to talk about exponentially more atrocious acts of violence, I can only say: get a fucking grip. Pull yourself together. Your country is backing a literal genocide right this very moment.
I wouldn’t care if Trump or Biden was killed, not for them, anyway. They’re both mass murderers and Trump has spent the last nine months going on about how much he supports the Gaza genocide.
That said, I wouldn’t kill either myself or advise anyone to assassinate them, as it is counter-productive and pointless. Both of them are symptoms, not causes, and if Trump had been killed whoever replaced him would have been as bad or worse and likely won on a sympathy/vengeance surge.
America’s problems aren’t about any individual. If only it were so.
My Thoughts
I'll end by suggesting you take the following two warnings to heart.
First, from Chris Hedges: The crusade against Trump “only contributes to the national reality television show that has replaced journalism and politics.”
One choice may be better or worse, but none of these political maneuverings is democratic. No one wanted these choices, and no one can escape them. If Trump lives or dies, if Biden runs or bows out, who will replace them? Another Donor Convention will stage-manage another reality TV event and we’ll still believe we’re in charge — until most of us don’t.
That way lies danger, Will Robinson. Someday, most of us won't.
Second, from Caitlin Johnstone, the comparison of this to 9/11: “[This event] historically means some deeply unwholesome policies are about to be rolled out”.
I’m not sure she’s right, but I do know our spook and surveillance guardians are vigilant, watching for opportunity. They haven’t turned one down yet to tighten the screw.
So it’s reasonable, I think, to be concerned about the aftermath of this murder attempt, not just because of a possibly vengeful Trump, but because of whatever our protectors may devise to frustrate the next one.
Caitlin Johnston has it right, all those presidents condemning violence, while the US aids a genocide and takes the violent miltarized option with almost every foreign crisis. Those presidents are all war criminals, every single one.
FYI, that Washington Post “study” was the butt of jokes within the firearms community for months. 5.56 is near the bottom end of the scale for rifle cartridges. Most hunting rifles are vastly more lethal. Trump is lucky that the guy didn’t take a boring old deer rifle and aim at his chest.