Assassination Attempts
Last Sunday at a country club in West Palm Beach FL, our former president had a second attempt on his life within two months. The suspect Ryan Wesley Routh was spotted holding a scoped AK-47 rifle along the shrubbery and trees bordering Trump’s golf course. He had been lying there for nearly 12 hours waiting for his target. Just like a golfer, all that stood between him and his goal were 500 yards of pristine fairway, jagged rough, and a couple of bunkers. Fortunately, a member of the Secret Service spotted him before he could get a line of sight onto Trump. Secret Service, having learned from their mistakes, opened fire. The suspect fled to a nearby county and has since been apprehended. He has only been charged on two minor accounts at the time of writing this.
This is not the first time Trump has been shot at and definitely not the first time shots have been fired upon a US president. Just over two months ago during his campaign rally in Butler, PA, the Secret Service nearly failed their duty to protect Trump when one of the eight bullets fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks grazed his ear, injured two civilians, and ended the life of a civilian in the audience. This was a huge defense failure of the Secret Service considering that a security officer did not stop a man carrying an AR-15 from climbing onto a roof with a clear line of sight to Trump.
(Below Left) Immediately after getting shot the former president pushes against the Secret Service members restraining him and shouts: “Fight, Fight, Fight!!”
(Below Right) There is also a meme comparing Trump to rapper 50 Cent and specifically his hit song “Many Men (Wish Death).”
How This Affects Trump’s odds, and Democracy
Having the most money for your campaign, more often than not, results in winning an election. Trump’s campaign raised 138.7 million dollars during the month of July alone. This increase in campaign donations is partially due to the attempt on his life, which generated further publicity and motivated supporters to donate. This 2nd attempt at murder likewise could see a boost in late campaign donations. However, I don’t see this incident making a difference in the polls even in this close of a race. As for democracy, it is incredibly ironic that the man attempting to assassinate a president is the same man who preaches freedom and democracy in his book, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity.” No matter your views on the candidates of this race, one can agree that our First Amendment must be defended, and that our politicians should not have their life endangered just because of their ideas. This is necessary if we want to maintain a stable democracy not only for ourselves, but for many generations to come.
