Until the weekend, it looked as though the Republican National Convention would be dominated not by the formal nomination of Donald Trump but whether Joe Biden would still be his opponent. Not anymore. Saturday’s attempted assassination probably changes more than we can currently foresee. It seems crass to focus on the political implications of what we saw in Butler, but there is no escaping them – whether for either campaign, or for the voters.
Americans’ genuine horror at the shootings will surely bring a wave of sympathy and support for Trump, as will his instinctive determination to stand and signal to the crowd as he was bundled away by the Secret Service. But the tone of this Convention will be crucial to what then unfolds. Trump now has a possibly fleeting opportunity not just to appear strong and defiant, but a unifier in a way that previously seemed unthinkable. After surviving his own shooting in 1982, President Reagan’s first public appearance was at a joint session of Congress, where he was cheered across the aisle. Trump’s is set to be at a gathering which is hyper-partisan by definition. As he was hustled to safety, we all saw him shout “Fight! Fight!” The question will be – fight whom, or what?
Read more
