We all are aware of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump that occurred on July 13th at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. What makes this kind of political violence upsetting is the sheer uncertainty that follows the act for many hours, even days. Footage from the event showed Trump clutch his right ear and go down after gunshots rang out. Quickly rising to his feet amid a phalanx of U.S. Secret Service agents, Trump pumped a fist at the crowd as blood seeped from the side of his head. The agents responded swiftly to protect the former president and shot the apparent attacker to death.

From the outset, both Democratic and Republican political leaders  denounced the attack.  President Biden said in a statement that he was “grateful to hear that [Trump’s] safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally.” I think it fair to say that most of us, regardless of our political perspectives, are grateful that the former president survived such a horrific incident. Thankfully, according to news reports, Donald Trump is “fine.” after an apparent attempt on his life by a sniper firing from a rooftop near a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

However, it did not take long for partisan politics to emerge. Several Republican politicians, among them J. D. Vance, Tim Scott, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Steve Scalise, blamed the far left republicans blame democrats and liberal media for demonizing Trump. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) went so far as to state that, “Joe Biden sent the orders” and urged the local prosecutor to “immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Mind you, this same Collins once ran a campaign ad in which he fired a rifle at former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and created a cardboard of supposedly RINO Republicans.

Accordingly, there were those on the left who wasted no time in taking to social media to make dubious assumptions. Liberal accounts posted their own “false flag” conspiracies. The now-famous photo of Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents, pumping his fist with small streaks of blood across his face, was too clear and good not to have been staged, certain people argued. Dmitri Mehlhorn, a prominent Democratic strategist, emailed journalists, encouraging them to consider the possibility that the conservative right staged the shooting to bolster Trump. After intense criticism, he apologized for his remarks.

Horrendous as it was, the Trump incident certainly is not the first time that someone has shot at a president or leading presidential candidate. Lone gunmen shot dead Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy. Back in 1912, former president Teddy Roosevelt, campaigning for a political comeback, took a bullet in the chest area, and other shooters failed to murder President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Gerald R. Ford. In 1972, Arthur Bremer, a man searching for fame, shot Gov. George C. Wallace (D-AL) at a campaign event during his presidential run. John Hinckley attacked Ronald Reagan out of a deranged obsession to impress actress Jodie Foster. Such violence has deep historical roots.

The truth is that Trump has adamantly engaged in the acerbic language of political violence for several years, demonizing his political enemies and ratcheting up partisan political tensions to a frenzy. During his high-pitched fever rallies in 2016, he encouraged his supporters to chant that Hillary Clinton should be locked up. In June 2017, then-President Trump stated there were “very fine people” among the neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville. He mused about considering strategies to shoot would-be immigrants in the legs or feed them to alligators as they tried to cross the southern border into the United States. This is a presidential candidate who advocated for the execution of former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley and just recently reposted social media calls for televised military tribunals to be held for members of the House Committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection, among other things.

July 13, 2024, could very well have been another politically dark day in American history. Some people may argue that it was/is. Donald Trump’s attempted assassination may stir up political division and animosity even further. Alternatively, it could serve as a reflection point for serious, direct, impassioned yet civil and thoughtful debate. For progress sake, let’s hope that it is the latter. Donald Trump’s surviving a bullet spared the nation a collective bullet and another presidential tragedy.