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Trump stokes suspicions about assassination attempt, raising fears of more violence
Trump stokes suspicions about assassination attempt, raising fears of more violence
After an initial period of relative restraint, the former president has begun blaming the shooting on his opponents and amplifying conspiracy theories.
By Isaac Arnsdorf
September 12, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
On the first night after Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., some supporters and allies, including campaign staff, immediately began blaming President Joe Biden and Democrats before any information was available about the shooter or his possible motive. Trump himself didn’t go there. In his first public statements after the July 13 shooting, Trump thanked law enforcement, offered condolences to the rallygoers killed and wounded, and called for unity.
But his tone changed in recent weeks, as the Republican presidential nominee began promoting conspiracy theories such as those that label the assassination attempt an “inside job” by government agencies or make up Democratic ties to lawyers representing the shooter’s parents. Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), frequently portray the attempt as part of efforts by political opponents to prevent the former president from returning to power. ... “I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me,” Trump said at Tuesday’s ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, referring to the bullet or bullet fragment that authorities said grazed his right ear.
The photo of Trump raising his fist with blood on his face has supplanted his mug shot as the defining image of his campaign, adorning everything from T-shirts to Christmas ornaments, and symbolizing the feeling of defiance that Trump has made core to his political persona. Republicans’ new rallying cry became the “Fight! Fight! Fight!” chant inspired by Trump’s first words after getting shot.
His frequent retellings of what happened in Butler serve to deepen his bond with his supporters by fostering a collective experience of overcoming adversity. That shared feeling gets intensified by a perceived indifference from the media and the rest of the country, as attention quickly moved on from the shooting to Trump’s selection of Vance and Harris’s replacement of Biden as the Democratic nominee. And as with previous MAGA myths, such as unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, Trump’s supporters bring him information and suspicions that he amplifies and validates, creating a mutually reinforcing feedback loop. ... “The more we see what happened that day, the more suspicious it all looks,” right-wing podcast host Monica Crowley said in an interview with Trump released on Aug. 29. “It looks like the three-letter agencies are slow-walking a lot of this evidence, a lot of the videos, etc. Does it look increasingly to you like this was a suspicious, maybe even inside job?”
{snip}
By Isaac Arnsdorf
Isaac Arnsdorf is a national political reporter covering the Trump campaign. His first book, "Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy," was published in 2024.follow on X iarnsdorf
After an initial period of relative restraint, the former president has begun blaming the shooting on his opponents and amplifying conspiracy theories.
By Isaac Arnsdorf
September 12, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
On the first night after Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., some supporters and allies, including campaign staff, immediately began blaming President Joe Biden and Democrats before any information was available about the shooter or his possible motive. Trump himself didn’t go there. In his first public statements after the July 13 shooting, Trump thanked law enforcement, offered condolences to the rallygoers killed and wounded, and called for unity.
But his tone changed in recent weeks, as the Republican presidential nominee began promoting conspiracy theories such as those that label the assassination attempt an “inside job” by government agencies or make up Democratic ties to lawyers representing the shooter’s parents. Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), frequently portray the attempt as part of efforts by political opponents to prevent the former president from returning to power. ... “I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me,” Trump said at Tuesday’s ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, referring to the bullet or bullet fragment that authorities said grazed his right ear.
The photo of Trump raising his fist with blood on his face has supplanted his mug shot as the defining image of his campaign, adorning everything from T-shirts to Christmas ornaments, and symbolizing the feeling of defiance that Trump has made core to his political persona. Republicans’ new rallying cry became the “Fight! Fight! Fight!” chant inspired by Trump’s first words after getting shot.
His frequent retellings of what happened in Butler serve to deepen his bond with his supporters by fostering a collective experience of overcoming adversity. That shared feeling gets intensified by a perceived indifference from the media and the rest of the country, as attention quickly moved on from the shooting to Trump’s selection of Vance and Harris’s replacement of Biden as the Democratic nominee. And as with previous MAGA myths, such as unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, Trump’s supporters bring him information and suspicions that he amplifies and validates, creating a mutually reinforcing feedback loop. ... “The more we see what happened that day, the more suspicious it all looks,” right-wing podcast host Monica Crowley said in an interview with Trump released on Aug. 29. “It looks like the three-letter agencies are slow-walking a lot of this evidence, a lot of the videos, etc. Does it look increasingly to you like this was a suspicious, maybe even inside job?”
{snip}
By Isaac Arnsdorf
Isaac Arnsdorf is a national political reporter covering the Trump campaign. His first book, "Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy," was published in 2024.follow on X iarnsdorf
2 replies
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