Just last Tuesday, Donald Trump accused Kamala Harris during their debate, saying, I took a bullet to the head because of what you're saying against me. Neither he nor anyone else could have imagined that merely five days later, a sniper rifle would again be aimed at him, with the bullets narrowly missing their mark only by sheer luck.
Unlike the first assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania a month and a half ago, where the motive remained unclear, this time the political motivation is undeniable. Ryan Wesley Routh, a vocal Trump critic, had not hesitated to express his views on social media.
There's no doubt that this animosity toward the former president drove Routh to push his rifle barrel between the fences of the golf course where Trump was playing early Sunday morning. Routh's actions are yet another manifestation of the extremely tense political atmosphere in the United States. For over a decade, the political divide there has been so extreme that some fear a civil war. The violent invasion of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was one step away from such an eruption. The two assassination attempts on Trump are further evidence of this extreme tension.
Some believe that the alarming ease with which two Americans nearly succeeded in taking down the president within weeks of each other might inspire a third possible assassin. Trump's schedule is quite predictable. His fondness for crowd interaction is endless and necessary. His rallies are public, and the places he frequents are well-known to all Americans. It's worth noting that Iran, according to US intelligence, is also seeking ways to remove Trump from the picture.
America, in any case, finds itself in its polarized state for many reasons. First, it's an extreme country. Its weather is extreme. Its economic system – absolute freedom with little support for the vulnerable – is extreme. Its political system – "winner takes all" – is extreme. Its discourse and culture have always been extreme, and in recent decades, social media algorithms have only pushed each side further away from the other.
This has led to a situation where Democrats define Trump as a "threat to democracy," while he himself is dodging bullets that are also attempts to undermine that very democracy. How will this end? Seven weeks until election day is a long time. So far, it seems that after the initial wave of sympathy for Trump following the heroic images, the American public has now seemingly become accustomed to the idea of lunatics trying to shoot the former president.
The battle between him and Harris is close, with the vice president appearing to have a slight advantage. However, especially due to the Electoral College system, it's simply impossible to predict. Regarding concerns about violence, the truth is that no matter who wins, tensions will not subside after the election. Perhaps the opposite. The animosity between the camps is so great that it wouldn't be surprising if some on the losing side take the law into their own hands.
