Attack on Trump

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi are among the wide range of political leaders worldwide who have strongly condemned the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump. It’s sick, there is no place for this kind of violence, President Joe Biden reacted. Trump’s opponents have been quick to denounce the attack, calling for national unity. The shooting incident at an election rally takes the already tumultuous 2024 US presidential campaign into an even darker direction. It was a close shave for the Republican contender, who was shot in his right ear while he was on stage. Trump holding his fist up high in the immediate aftermath of the shooting could become the defining image of his campaign. It fits well with how he would like to be seen — exemplifying fortitude and courage. A shift in the messaging and tenor of his bid to return as President is imminent.

The violence complicates the Biden camp’s calculations. The Democratic Party is in disarray over the President’s disastrous debate performance and a series of gaffes. His refusal to make way for a younger candidate has led to dissension and ridicule. Going forward, a re-election bid based entirely on demonising Trump over his track record in public office and conduct in private life is suddenly fraught with risks. For, he has just survived an assassination attempt. Public sympathy cannot be discounted.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva, no admirer of Trump, has said the attack must be vehemently repudiated by all defenders of democracy and dialogue in politics. So it should be. Will it result in toned-down Trump and Biden campaigns, minus the vocabulary of hate and violence? Unlikely. That’s the disturbing reality of the self-anointed custodian of democracy.