Donald Trump assassination attempt: Republicans blame Joe Biden

analysis

Donald Trump hears a hissing sound, a bullet pierces the upper part of his right ear – the former president throws himself to the ground. Secret Service agents lie on top of him to protect the 78-year-old. Shortly afterwards, they escort Trump off the stage. Trump’s ear and temple are covered in blood, he raises his fist in the air and shouts several times: “Fight”.

Trump is taken to a safe location. About two and a half hours later, the Republican speaks out on Truth Social and describes how he experienced the attempted assassination at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. “It is unbelievable that such an attack could happen in our country,” Trump writes. US President Joe Biden condemns the attack and speaks of “sick” violence.

Even before the perpetrator’s name or motive is known, many Republicans are speaking out on X. Conservative Congressman Mike Collins writes: “Joe Biden sent the order.” Richard Grenell, Trump’s former US ambassador to Germany, speaks of Biden’s “directive” that someone followed. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claims that “the Democrats and the media” are “responsible for every drop of blood.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott indirectly accuses the Democrats: “They’re trying to lock him up. They’re trying to kill him. It’s not going to work. He’s invincible.” Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s key strategists, also speaks out: “The entire Democratic Party campaign message consists of the vile and monstrous lie that Trump and the Republicans are trying to destroy democracy. This mammoth lie, this dark poison, this terrible hatred and defamation must stop. It must stop.”

“This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination”

Ohio Senator JD Vance shares this assessment. “The premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” said Vance, who is being considered as Trump’s vice presidential candidate. “This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”

There is no moment of pause, the attempted assassination is immediately exploited for political purposes by the Republicans. Joe Biden is to blame – it’s as simple as that.

At the same time, the question remains as to what impact the assassination attempt will have on the election in less than four months. If the richest man in the world has his way, the 45th President of the USA will also become the 47th. After the attack, Elon Musk called for Trump’s election on his platform X. “I fully support President Trump and hope for his speedy recovery,” Musk wrote.

In the history of the United States, four US presidents were assassinated, including Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and John J. Kennedy almost a century later. When the latter died, Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s vice president, took over. A year after the assassination, Johnson ran for re-election and received more than 61 percent of the vote nationwide. No president has ever won by a higher percentage than he did.

There were also presidents who survived assassination attempts. The attack on Ronald Reagan in 1981 was one such attempt. The Republican was shot at in the capital Washington in March 1981, when he had only been in office for a little over two months. Reagan survived with serious injuries. At his inauguration, he had an approval rating of 51 percent. After the attack, this rose to 68 percent. In 1984, Reagan was re-elected with an overwhelming result.

Is America now rallying around Donald Trump?

Yes – when presidents are shot, the country usually rallies around them. Americans talk about the rally-’round-the-flag effect. A national trauma leads to unity. The question now is whether the citizens of the United States will also rally around their ex-president, who wants to return to the White House.

Trump will do everything he can. Next week he will be officially elected as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate in Milwaukee. Milwaukee, of all places – in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot there. The president survived and even made sure that nothing happened to his assassin.

On Saturday evening, there was a brief discussion about whether the party convention should be postponed. The Republicans quickly rejected this idea. Trump is continuing, now more than ever.