1 of 3 | Following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, how can both parties and both candidates change the direction and tone of their respective campaigns? File Photo by David Banks/UPI | License Photo
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump on Saturday has brought a bipartisan chorus singing how critical it is to “lower the temperature” and return to a civil public debate in which the harshest and meanest accusations are tempered. No longer will Trump refer to the “Biden crime family” and argue Joe Biden is unfit to serve as president. Democrats will refrain from labeling Trump a threat to democracy and a “dictator” out for revenge.
And guess what? This bonhomie may last for a few days and possibly through the Republican national convention. Trump could take the high ground and call off his dogs of war. Statesmanship, a novelty for the former president, could change the tone of his campaign. And the iconic photo of a wounded Trump raising his right fist in defiance could become the image of a new campaign. Advertisement Advertisement
Democrats could reciprocate. Now that Trump’s classified documents case has been thrown out by Judge Aileen Cannon in what many will argue is a criminal dereliction of duty and obedience to the man who appointed her, it is possible the Supreme Court’s immunity decision will convince New York judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the thirty-four felonies that convicted Trump in the “hush money” case in September. That would deem Trump an innocent man, even though a judge in one of the sexual harassment cases declared Trump a “rapist.”
Some of Trump’s enemies will regret that the bullet missed but will keep silent. Rhetoric will soften. And all will be well.
But will it? How can both parties and both candidates change the direction and tone of their respective campaigns? Democrats are running against Trump, citing all his wrong doings and failings rendering him unfit to serve in any office. Similarly, can Republicans desist in making a mockery of Joe Biden’s age and mental limitations that should disqualify him from a second term? The same restraint would apply to attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for her juvenile laughs and incompetence in handling any assignment presented to her. Advertisement
Would cable networks from Fox to MSNBC give up sensationalism and instead simply report the news in a boring and unprovocative fashion that is assured to lose viewers and ratings? And would extremists of left and right forgo using the most heated commentary to describe politics? That seems unlikely.
More importantly, the basic strategies of both campaigns would have to make a volte-face to what? The need for fair criticism to be limited to facts and truth rather than lies, misstatements, and hyperbole would completely disarm the inventory of weapons to bash the other side. And is there sufficient discipline to ensure that self-control across both parties could be maintained? More to the point, will Trump the bully become Trump the gentleman?
To many observers, these are not very likely scenarios. To others, once this short period of grace ends, the old rhetoric will return with a vengeance. This may start with the many conspiracy theories that are emerging. The basis will be to ask how the shooter remained undetected, sneaking onto an obvious spot with a clear shot at Trump and how the Secret Service snipers were able to eliminate the threat within seconds of the first shot. Clearly, this was no coincidence and could make the mystery around the Kennedy assassination in 1963 seem trivial. Advertisement
The possible suspects who might have planned this attack range from Democratic or former Republican extremists who viewed Trump as a clear and present danger to national security that had to be eliminated: disgruntled graduates of Trump University or other scams; hundreds of Trump contractors who were never paid; women who were sexually abused and sought revenge; and maybe an ex-wife or two. Otherwise, gunman Thomas Crooks could never have gained access to the building. And an alert had to be passed to the Secret Service snipers, as no one was sufficiently good enough to respond in a second or two.
Of course this is nonsense. With other would-be and actual presidential assassins, their rationale has been as trivial as failing to gain a job or to impress a movie star. It may turn out Crooks had an equally bizarre motive. That he is dead, as alleged Kennedy killer Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered in the most extraordinary way in a police station, suggests we will never know.
The lesson to be relearned as this good will dissipates is that hypocrisy reigns supreme in America. Unlike many diseases, this one seems incurable unless a miracle intervenes. However, do not bet the housekeeping funds on that. Advertisement
Harlan Ullman is UPI’s Arnaud de Borchgrave Distinguished Columnist, a senior adviser at Washington’s Atlantic Council, the prime author of “shock and awe” and author of “The Fifth Horseman and the New MAD: How Massive Attacks of Disruption Became the Looming Existential Danger to a Divided Nation and the World at Large.” Follow him @harlankullman. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
