As shocking as the attempted assassination of Donald Trump is, the violent images of his political discourse raised over the years have burst into flames. We will soon find out what the motives were of the twenty-year old with the high power rifle. He most likely should never have been able to get his hands on that gun. But this is the America we live in. Guns inspire some of us and terrify most of us. We’ve allowed them to become ingrained in our culture. No one should ever justify violence, political or otherwise. But Trump has used violent images over the years to arouse his followers and built a personality cult that many ordinary citizens and the leaders of the Republican Party have embraced like moths to a flame.
It started when he came down the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy in the 2016 race. Speaking about Mexican immigrants he said, “They are not our friends, believe me. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” It was a speech from someone announcing his candidacy for president of the United States like none other in history, and millions loved it. Later in that first campaign he told a crowd, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s like incredible.” The crowd cheered. When asked about the racist violence in Charlottesville where people marched with torches reminiscent of Nazis and a woman was killed. He said, “There were very fine people on both sides.” In the 2020 debate with Joe Biden when challenged about his support from the white nationalists Proud Boys he told them, “To stand back and stand by.”
January 6th stands as the ultimate symbol of what Trump and his followers want our country to be. He instigated that crowd to destroy a sacred symbol of democracy and and than watched it unfold on television and did nothing to stop it. The timing of this event comes two days before the start of the Republican convention in Milwaukee where Trump will be hailed as a hero who defied even bullets. We are living in one of the most dangerous political periods in our history. After the Civil War, this time can be compared the violence of 1968 when Martin Luther King and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy were shot and killed in two months.
We are in the middle of a long, hot summer. History shows a spark can ignite tempers and flames. There is no one coming to save us from ourselves. We must look into ourselves and decide where we want to go as a country. Lincoln predicted the country could only be destroyed from within. Now is our test. It’s up to us to remember the gunfire in Butler and determine our country’s future.
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