While former President Trump played at his Florida golf course, a gunman opened fire
A gunman’s ability to get within shooting distance of former President Trump on Sunday has again raised the specter of violence in the American political landscape, a development that analysts said is all too expected as Trump’s followers vowed it would make them even more determined to reelect him.
Just two months after a would-be assassin’s bullet clipped Trump’s ear in Butler, Pa., the Secret Service fired shots at a man with an assault rifle who had hidden himself in foliage less than 500 yards from the former president.
The identity and motives of the suspect had not been revealed by late in the afternoon, but followers of the former president immediately rallied around him.
“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! TRUMP 2024,” wrote one supporter on Trump’s Truth Social platform.
“The greatest warrior,” chimed in Kash Patel, a former appointee in Trump’s Defense Department.
In another post, Trump appears as a heroic figure, fists firing as he strides across a battlefield. “I AM SAFE AND WELL!” the missive read. “Our president Donald Trump.” It was followed by hands praying.
After the first attempt on Trump’s life, in July, supporters and even some neutral political observers predicted that the violence would push him to an insurmountable lead over President Biden.
But much has changed since then — most notably Biden’s failing debate performance, which caused him to drop out of the presidential race and to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. By many measures since then, it has been Harris who has had the momentum in the campaign.
“Donald Trump’s high point of enthusiasm was immediately after the shooting in Pennsylvania, heading into his own convention,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant and ardent Trump critic. “The Republicans were absolutely convinced that they were going to win a landslide election.
“This latest incident gives his base yet another reason to show up and maybe for people on his side to say, ‘This is what we are fighting against,’ “ Madrid said. “But in terms of the enthusiasm gap, that advantage still goes to Harris and I wouldn’t think that will change.”
Said longtime Republican pollster Frank Luntz: “I was pretty sure that Trump’s defiant gesture after being fired upon [in June] would propel his reelection. To my surprise, it hasn’t even been the most important event of the campaign. This second shooting incident is not likely to have an impact, either. I don’t see anything other than a war having a meaningful, measurable impact on a decisive segment of the population.”
Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consulting firm, said his organization just held a large summit on political violence that was full of U.S. government officials and leading academics — attendees of which would not be surprised by Sunday’s incident.
