The exploitation of the second alleged assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has begun, combined with horror, bewilderment and relief that it was not worse. It happened on Sunday afternoon near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, just two months after Trump was shot at at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was injured in the ear and a spectator was killed. In Florida, security forces shot the suspected perpetrator before he could shoot himself. The man, who was allegedly armed with a rifle with a telescopic sight, was arrested.
This is America, 2024. Guns drawn, with a lot of hate and aggression. President Joe Biden declared somewhat helplessly, “political violence or violence in general has no place in our country.” But we know full well that gun violence is at home in America. Even political murder has never been foreign to the US system. And now the second attack on Trump. He spoke out as was to be expected: “Nothing will slow me down. I will never give up.” The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, seconded this: We have to thank God. “No leader in American history” has been exposed to as many attacks as Trump and yet “remained so strong and resilient.”
Trump’s campaign is now writing new fundraising appeals
In the first assassination attempt, the motives of the shooter, who was himself shot, remained unclear. In the second attempt in Florida, there are now supposedly digital traces that provoke wild speculation. The arrested man, a building contractor, was committed to supporting Ukraine, allegedly with the willingness to “fight and die” there.
After the first attack, Trump was floating on a cloud of sympathy – as a martyr, a victim and a strong man who is unbeatable. After the high, the return to reality came quicker than expected. The assassination attempt was pushed aside by the Kamala Harris euphoria, Trump’s failed TV debate and his dystopian claim that migrants from Haiti threatened America and even ate pets. A town in Ohio denounced by Republicans as a migrant town received bomb threats. And Trump announced in capital letters on his online platform that he hated Taylor Swift. The mega-artist had announced that she was voting for Kamala Harris. After the assassination attempt in Florida, Trump’s campaign is now writing new appeals for donations.
