AS OF THIS writing, former US President Donald J. Trump was almost assassinated, with multiple shots fired.
The shot only grazed his ear, but otherwise, he’s fine.
Already there are people proclaiming that June 13 is a historic event, and they’re right. Shortly, after getting shot, with his ear bleeding, Trump raised his fists for his supporters. Behind him was the American flag.
Now, that’s defiance, and I believe that image will be remembered for a long time.
Predictably, conspiracy theories erupted on the internet shortly after the attack. One of them asserts that the attempt on Trump was supported by the US deep state bodies, including some in the Secret Services.
This assertion could be dismissed with the simple acknowledgement that those in charge of protecting Trump were simply incompetent.
Another conspiracy theory is that the whole thing was staged and was designed to make Trump look strong, and the Democrats look guilty.
I doubt this, too, in the sense that the attack had killed and injured other people. Ancillary casualties are not good for false flag attacks. They complicate things.
There is also the baseline argument that the American “Deep State” had either authorized the attack or let it happen.
If they did, it was a stupid gamble because it had escalated the political tensions in the US and further damaged the legitimacy of political institutions among Trump voters and centrists.
Assassinations are nothing new in the US of course, but Trump’s case is unique in that he had been attacked at a time when US prestige has been declining for decades.
This assassination attempt, in the context of his story, makes his enemies look weak and desperate.
I don’t know what the next phase will be, but a lot of Americans will be looking at Trump’s picture and they will reach certain conclusions. What those conclusions are will have consequences for the US and its politics in the years to come./PN
