A dangerous moment for America after Trump assassination attempt

President Biden calls for unity in a country that has long been beset by political violence

Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is helped off the stage. AP

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump marks a terrifying new moment for America, stoking fears of further political violence in an increasingly divided country where extreme narratives have drowned out civil discourse.

Images of a bloodied and fist-pumping Trump emerging defiant from the attempt on his life also mark a watershed moment in this year's election campaign, likely to further galvanise support among many voters.

Even before a bullet whizzed past the former president's head at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, several other high-profile figures – both Republican and Democrat – have been targeted, and the inflammatory rhetoric during this election campaign is unlikely to abate anytime soon.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick,” President Joe Biden said shortly after Saturday's shooting.

“We have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”

Mr Biden went on to say that “the idea that there's political violence or violence in America like this, it's just unheard of”.

That assessment, sadly, is untrue.

A long list of American presidents have been shot at, dating back to before the Civil War, and four of them were killed. The most recent assassination of a sitting president was John F Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

Ronald Reagan survived after being shot in Washington in 1981.

Some blame Democrats for shooting

Following the attack on Trump, prominent figures from both the Republican and Democratic parties condemned the shooting and wished him well.

Alongside the outpouring of support, however, a right-wing narrative soon emerged that the assassination attempt was the fault of the Biden administration's rhetoric about Trump, whom Mr Biden has portrayed as a would-be dictator who wants to end American democracy.

This election season has been overshadowed by foreboding language, with Trump vowing to be a “dictator” on day one if he wins re-election in November, and pledging to take “revenge” on those who he believes have politically persecuted him.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” said JD Vance, a senator from Ohio believed to be on Trump's shortlist to be his vice presidential running mate.

“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.”

Republican Congressman Mike Collins of Georgia went further, saying authorities in Pennsylvania should “immediately file charges against Joseph R Biden for inciting an assassination”.

Another shock

Saturday's shooting presents yet another shock in the election season, which in recent weeks has been dominated by Mr Biden's apparently failing cognitive abilities and whether he is fit to run for re-election.

Trump has already emerged as the favourite as he maintains the lead over Mr Biden in crucial swing states, and the contrast to a blood-soaked shooting survivor to an elderly man unable to form coherent sentences at a debate is stark.

Steve Schmidt, a former Republican political strategist who has spoken out against former president Trump, said on Saturday that “the political consequences of this assassination attempt will be immense, and they will benefit Donald Trump”.

Within minutes of the shooting, “Civil War” was one of the most trending terms on X, reflecting the deep concerns many Americans have about worsening political violence.

A 2023 report from the non-partisan research firm PRRI found that nearly a quarter of Americans agree that “patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country” – the most in the about three years the question has been asked since Trump’s term in office.

The report also found that 75 per cent of Americans, from both sides of the political spectrum, agree that American democracy is at risk in the 2024 presidential election.

In 2022, the husband of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was violently assaulted by a hammer-wielding attacker in the couple's San Francisco home. The assailant David DePape, who yelled “Where is Nancy” during the attack, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

That same year, police arrested an armed man who had made threats against Brett Kavanaugh near the conservative US Supreme Court justice's home. Police say he was plotting to kill the judge.

And three men in Michigan were found guilty of taking part in a conspiracy to kidnap Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

But for many, the gravest incident of political violence in modern times was the deadly January 6, 2021 riots, when thousands of Trump loyalists stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop Mr Biden from becoming president after Trump refused to concede defeat.

Ellie Sennett in Washington contributed to this report.

Trump shooting – in pictures