The real threat to democracy isn’t the candidates but actual political violence − the kind that’s threatened Donald Trump’s life twice in two months.
Former President Donald Trump has survived two assassination attempts in a little more than nine weeks. Both attempts on the Republican presidential nominee’s life raise questions about his security detail and our fraught political climate.
But neither attempt has derailed Trump, who remains, according to polls, locked in a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris, and the failed attempt on Sunday will likely galvanize a Republican base that feels disenfranchised but remains zealous.
Much of the legacy news media and the Democratic Party loathe Trump. Perhaps rightly so. Some Republicans do as well, and I’m no fan of the former president.
But tens of millions of Americans will cast their votes for him in about seven weeks. If we truly value democracy, we must want Trump to be safe for the sake of the democratic process.Assassination attempt raises security questions
On July 13, Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The 20-year-old gunman in that incident was able to fire at least six shots, grazing Trump on his ear, killing a person in the audience and wounding two others.
On Sunday, Ryan Routh, 58, was arrested in an apparent attempt to kill Trump while the former president played golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
We likely will learn more as the days go on, but this second assassination attempt raises immediate questions.
