The shocking assassination attempt on Donald Trump will deepen the growing political divide in the US and up-end an already chaotic presidential election campaign.
News of the shooting, in which Trump received minor injuries, has stunned America. The vision shows just how close Trump came to being killed. Tragically, an audience member was killed. The attack threatens to send passions soaring and will fuel fears of further violence in an election campaign where tensions have already been simmering on both sides.
The Biden campaign has already said it will pull its anti-Trump campaign material in an attempt to calm emotions.
The attack on Trump comes as pressure continues to increase for Joe Biden to abandon his bid for re-election because he is too old and infirm for the job.
All eyes were on Biden on Sunday (AEST), as Democrats continued to tear themselves apart over his future, when news of the Trump attack suddenly came through.
The assassination attempt was above all a murderous and cowardly crime but it will inevitably also be analysed for the impact it will have on the Trump-Biden contest.
There is still much information we don’t know yet about the would-be assassin and the motive.
But Trump’s remarkable act of defiantly pumping his fist to the crowd, face bloodied, as he was dragged off the stage by the secret service is certain to be celebrated by his supporters. It feeds Trump’s tough guy image and underlines the ‘them against us’ narrative, a theme which Trump promotes.
Having survived the attempt on his life, Trump is due within days to front the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to accept his party’s nomination as its presidential nominee. It promises to be a remarkable moment of political theatre because he will understandably be greeted by his supporters as a heroic survivor.
We do not know yet whether the attack will change the way Trump campaigns. Will he still be willing to hold his signature large rallies around the country? Security for both Trump and Biden will be sharply increased.
For Biden, the attack will not change the fact that he is fighting for his own political survival this week.
The assassination attempt on Trump was a terrible and shameful moment. There is a clear need for both sides of politics to work harder to modify their rhetoric and turn down the temperature in this campaign. It would be nice to think that this would be the long-term outcome. But the faultlines in American politics run deeper than they have in a generation. It is hard to be an optimist.
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