There Is No Time To Catch Your Breath

Donald Trump has fortunately avoided a possible assassination attempt once again. However, despite this terrible act, nothing will change in this brutal U.S. election.

Donald Trump is the only one who can do it. As the former president claims often enough: The economy, the border — everything, actually — make America great again. And the others, the left, the radicals, the Democrats, that is: They cannot do it, and they want to stop him. By any means. They cheat in the election. They weaponize the judiciary against him!

For the second time already, Trump has avoided a possible assassination attempt; the details are still not entirely clear. One can and must first state: Thank God an attempted murder was thwarted. No ifs, ands or buts.

Regardless, the incident at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, fits wonderfully into Trump’s preferred narrative. “I will NEVER SURRENDER!” he wrote to his supporters, while he dryly stated on his social network, Truth Social, between words of thanks: “It was certainly an interesting day!”

This might be the most depressing realization: In this brutal election there is no time to catch your breath. The sides are clear, the polarization of society is extreme. A reality everyone can agree on no longer seems to exist. There is always an alternative to facts, which many have learned from Trump as well. People seek someone to blame, name, and thus turn into a target. And the violence that was actually always there has crept deep into daily life through words. Already the warnings of a civil war, which you can hear now and then, no longer sound completely out of touch. It is actually almost banal, as if it just had to come to this at some point: It will definitely be an interesting day.

Hate and Agitation against Everyone Else

But it is also a day many people are afraid of. Those people had already been validated in the 2020 election when experts stated before the vote, based on experience and science: “The potential for violent conflict is high.” The murderous storming of the Capitol was just the last piece of evidence. That is also why the first attack on Trump shocked many, but hardly surprised anyone. It closed a circle that began with his first campaign: Hate and agitation of everyone else, describing political opponents as “vermin,” repeatedly downplaying violence, at least, if not justifying it. The impression remains the same to this day: When his supporters take action, Trump has no problem with it. Quite the opposite.

And everything is ready for the next escalation. The anger at the system and those who stand for it continue to boil. Now, the many who keep it together at the lowest levels will feel it: local politicians, election workers, engaged citizens who ring doorbells for their party — they are the actual victims, they are threatened, harassed and attacked. Most cases don’t make headlines.

Meanwhile, Trump is already stirring up doubt about the next election: If the Democrats win with Kamala Harris then it’s only because they cheat. And Trump is not talking anyone out of the idea that violence can be a means to an end. In this case, he may be the only one who can do so. He calls the people who follow him a movement. He could lead them down a different path.

Instead, many people with a wide reach are falling in line and marching in step. Take Tesla billionaire and Trump fanboy Elon Musk, for instance. While he later deleted the post on his X platform, on Sunday after the incident in Florida he wrote, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” garnished with a pondering emoji. Musk eventually explained that it was a joke that was misunderstood out of context. But that is precisely the problem: The context is always clear enough that those who want to understand it in that way can feel called upon. And none of this is funny anymore.

Only one person can apparently still laugh about this. After the incident on Sunday, Trump is said to have been quick to get back to making jokes with those around him: He said that he was most of all disappointed that he was not able to finish his round of golf and that it was going so well until that point. This may also be how he thinks about his verbal game with violence: It’s going well. Until it catches up to him. Because you cannot blame his political opponent’s allegedly radical rhetoric for the fact that Trump has already become the target of an attack for a second time.