Fifty—a hundred—years from now, history is going to shine its light on this past week in the United States and cringe if not maybe throw up in its mouth a little.
One week ago today, former president—and current presidential candidate—Donald Trump was shot during a campaign rally. By what many called divine intervention, Trump turned his head as the shooter pulled the trigger, marking the difference between a clean head-shot and a mere grazing of the ear.
Before this, every presidential assassination—or attempt—has caused the nation to pause. It didn’t matter if one was a Democrat or Republican, Americans have instinctively circled the wagons around their leader to collectively share their horror, grief, and anger following the event.
I was in the seventh grade with President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. Lesson plans were put on hold as my teacher wheeled in a TV set to watch the updates following the horrific event. Politics paused. Debate took a breath. America became united that day.
At least for a time.
That was when we were still human.
That was when we saw each other as human.
That was when we weren’t categorized by our political or religious opinions.
This last week was the antithesis to all of American history.
The week following Trump’s assassination attempt was not the starting point of this change. It was more of a culmination.
In the hours since a bloodied Trump was rushed off-stage, posts surfaced on social media of individuals grieving that fact that the shooter missed. And this wasn’t just limited to wannabe influencers screaming in their parents’ basements. A Pennsylvania Fire Chief advised the shooter: “A little to the right next time please.”[1] (Ironically, the one individual killed during the assassination attempt was Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore.) A police sergeant in Dallas posted: “Aim better.”[2] A staffer for the New Jersey Education Association, stated: “What we know: they missed. Smh.”[3] A teacher in Ardmore City Schools in Oklahoma wished the Trump shooter “had [a] better scope.”[4] A school counselor in Yadkin County Schools posted: “I’m currently sitting on the beach this afternoon, disturbed by the fact, sickened with myself, that I was disappointed the shooter missed when I saw the news.”[5]
Fortunately, all of those examples posted above were either fired or resigned following the exposure to their hatred.
How did America get to this? How have we crossed the line between arguing over different political philosophies and wishing political opponents dead.
The media has to take a great deal of the blame. The late commentator Dr. Charles Krauthammer once said “Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.”
The media, government bureaucracy, and the entertainment industry has run with the latter.
For nine years, Trump was vilified, demonized, and dehumanized in these institutions. In this campaign, the Democrats have run solely on Trump being “an existential threat to American democracy.” Joe Biden himself stated that Donald Trump and his voters “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.”[6]
For nine years, America has seen photos of “comedian” Kathy Griffin holding up a bloodied, severed head of Trump, Madonna saying she would like to blow up the White House, TV anchors and journalist calling everything Trump said were “lies” without specifically describing what those lies are. Then a week before the assassination attempt, one magazine cover showed a close-up of Trump with a Hitler mustache. Recently, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tapping into her hyperbole and lack of historical understanding, referred to Trump as a Nazi. This vitriolic rhetoric has come from the highest levels, including Biden himself. Even the White House itself has called Trump a fascist, racist, and “existential threat to democracy.”
With that kind of rhetoric, it is no surprise that one off-kilter ne’er-do-well decided to take it in his own hands to “neutralize” this threat to democracy. With that kind of vitriol, it was simply a matter of time before something like this was to happen.
My hope in the days after the Trump shooting would be that America would pause in the same way it had done throughout history. I prayed we would take time to reflect how we got here. There were calls to tone down the heated rhetoric. However, in typical American methodology, we acknowledged the heated rhetoric while at the same time justifying their own rhetoric because the other side is so evil.
I at least hoped that the media would stop and reflect what part they played in the heated rhetoric.
Sadly, that was not to happen.
The initial CNN headline initially reporting the assassination attempt was—and I wish I was joking: “Secret Service Rushes Trump Off Stage After He Falls at Rally.” The Associated Press’s headline read: “Donald Trump Has Been Escorted Off The Stage During A Rally After Loud Noises Ring Out In The Crowd.”[7]
In the days to follow, individuals seriously asked if the shooting was staged with one report stating in a poll 12% “suspected the event was ‘planned’, and 33% of Joe Biden’s supporters thought it was a set up.”[8] (And I thought conservatives were supposed to be the conspiracy theorists.) Fortunately, most of the main press openly corrected that misinformation.
Still, one does not look far to see the media downplay the shooting or simply to redraw the focus. When Trump stands after being shot and shouts “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, CNN’s Jamie Gangel lamented that this is “not the message that we want to be sending right now.”[9] CNN played victim in the aftermath: “You’re Next: Some Trump supporters blame the media for the assassination attempt.”[10] ABC’s George Stephanopoulos while basically denying President Biden contributed to the heated rhetoric implied Trump and his supporters share some of the blame: “President Trump and his supporters have – have contributed to this violent rhetoric as well.”[11] (Note: to a point, he is correct; however, to compare the Conservative’s rhetoric with that of Progressive’s is like comparing the shooting a bullet and throwing one.)
Likely the most retarded—and I use the literally definition of the word—came from MSNBC’s Joy Reid who, not only questioned if Trump was even shot, compared President Biden getting COVID (something that has happened to him three times) with Trump getting shot (something that has happened only a handful of times in American history:
This current President of the United States is 81 years old and has COVID, should he be fine in a couple of days, doesn’t that convey exactly the same thing? That he’s strong enough – older than Trump – to have gotten something that used to really be fatal to people his age. So, if he does fine out of it and comes back and is able to do rallies, isn’t that exactly the same?[12]
Sadly, America has not used the time following the shooting to reflect and commit to doing rhetoric differently. We have not looked within to see how we ourselves, individually and institutionally, contributed to the problem. (I even see a progressive response to this essay as: “well, you’re doing it right now” although I propose that shining a light on ugly examples of heated rhetoric is not the same as calling someone Hitler or wishing death upon political opponents.)
On Friday(July 19), congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee lost the battle to cancer at the age of 72. She was a Democrat and very liberal. Instead of celebrating her death, Republican Senator Ted Cruz posts: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend & colleague Sheila Jackson Lee. She was a tireless advocate for Houston. I will always cherish our friendship & the laughter we shared throughout the years. Heidi & I offer our prayers and sincerest condolences to her family.”[13]
We can and will have heated political discourse. That’s the strength of our republic.
But we have to stop seeing each other as evil. No one running for office is an “existential threat to democracy.” Anyone who has a novice knowledge of history knows that no one running for office is anything close to Adolf Hitler.
It is a difference of opinion. Everyone has one.
The person expressing a difference is still a human, one created in God’s image.
It is clear we can’t trust the media to tone down the heated rhetoric.
Instead, we have to do it ourselves.
I truly believe this is an area where the kingdom of God can clearly lead.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pennsylvania-fire-chief-resigns-over-inappropriate-post-about-trump-assassination-attempt/ar-BB1q6w6O
[2] https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-safety/2024/07/15/donald-trump-shooting-dallas-police/
[3] https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2024/07/16/njea-staffer-goes-dark-after-posting-comment-about-shooter-missing-trump/
[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/oklahoma-education-official-to-revoke-license-of-teacher-who-wished-trump-shooter-had-better-scope/ar-BB1qaOKL
[5] https://www.yadkinripple.com/townnews/politics/yadkin-schools-counselor-resigns-following-trump-comments/article_dd95eec2-4446-11ef-a79d-6789cdc02aff.html
[6] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-calls-for-calm-after-years-of-calling-trump-threat-to-democracy/ar-BB1q0UbZ
[7] https://nypost.com/2024/07/14/opinion/lefty-media-kept-bias-on-full-display-after-trump-was-shot/
[8] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-fifth-of-us-voters-think-donald-trump-s-shooting-could-have-been-staged/ar-BB1q5TuZ
[9] https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-jamie-gangel-complains-about-trump-shouting-fight-fight-fight-just-seconds-after-being-shot/
[10] https://www.cnn.com/trump-supporters-blame-media/index.html
[11] https://www.mediaite.com/tv/abcs-martha-raddatz-singles-out-republican-rhetoric-for-ire-in-wake-of-attempted-
[12] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/joy-reid-suggest-biden-recovering-from-covid-is-exactly-the-same-thing-as-trump-surviving-an-assassination/ar-BB1qblgY
[13] https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/sheila-jackson-lee-death-reaction/285-ea90e62c-6299-4dad-9b55-49cb35f951f3
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