The assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, is a dark hour in America’s democracy which has to be roundly condemned by all democracy-orientated people around the world.
On Saturday, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old American, fired several shots at Trump, the former president, from an assault rifle. One bullet hit Trump’s right ear. A bystander was killed, and Crooks was shot dead by the secret service.
Fortunately, the would-be killer failed in his mission. Unfortunately, he will not face trial to explain his motivations, including how he came to be in possession of such a weapon.
Sad as it is, the attack has offered US political leaders a rare opportunity to show unity and leadership. All the surviving presidents of the US from both parties — including Barack Obama and George W Bush — have condemned the attack on Trump, and have called on law enforcement agencies to probe the attack.
Incumbent, Joe Biden, who is fighting for his political life after a disastrous TV debate performance a fortnight ago, set aside differences to condemn the violence.
In a refreshing departure from his combative style, Trump, who is expected to be confirmed this week as the Republican candidate against Biden, was unusually measured in his response. Remarkably, after emerging defiant from the incident, Trump did not call for revenge or entertain the many ridiculous conspiracy theories that are doing rounds on social media.
It is too early to tell what prompted the attack, whether the shooter had political intentions and, better still, whether he acted alone. These are questions that will form part of the investigations in the coming days.
Still, it is deeply troubling that the attempt on Trump’s life occurred at a political event.
The next few days will test US political leaders, especially Biden and Trump.
Trump, who is facing several criminal convictions and prosecutions, has an opportunity to show maturity. Unlike his poor handling of the January 6 2021 storming of the Capitol, he needs to ask for political temperatures to be dialled down. He must urge his supporters to calm down, and not use his name to perpetrate violence regardless of their unhappiness.
The Milwaukee Republican convention, the party’s nomination conference, is a magnificent platform for Trump to send this sobering message to his supporters.
He also needs to denounce apportioning blame to the secret service for Crooks coming so close to such a high-value target. Since its mission was repurposed to protect American politicians — including past and sitting presidents — the service has foiled many attempts on the lives of its charges.
Every so often, evildoers get lucky and kill their targets. Infamously, in the 1960s they took the lives of the two Kennedy brothers: JF and Robert F Kennedy.
For Biden, who is facing growing calls to abandon his re-election bid owing mostly to his advanced age from within his party, the challenge is similar. Reaching out to Trump was a good start.
Like Trump, Biden, who considers himself a truth teller, also faces the challenge of fighting misinformation and disinformation, including social media posts suggesting that the shooting was staged to generate sympathy for Trump.
Leadership has hitherto been missing from both candidates in the campaign which has been largely toxic. De-escalating the rhetoric is hard, but possible especially when the stakes are so high.
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