What comes after the attack against Trump?
Two days after the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump, the Republican Party convention is set to nominate him as its presidential candidate today. Trump has said that after the attack he rewrote his acceptance speech, dropping its combative tone and calling instead on the US to unite. The media compare the attempted assassination with historical events and ask what impact it will have.
Invulnerable
Trump will benefit politically from the assassination attempt, says The Irish Times:
“Surviving an assassination attempt can make a politician appear strong. Ronald Reagan benefited in the polls when he survived an attempt on his life early in his presidency. For an egomaniac such as Trump and his fanatical devotees, surviving assassination will lead to the belief that he is nearly invulnerable - as he himself has recognised, telling allies in 2023 that if he got shot, he would probably win the election. A projection of strength arising from this event may indeed help Trump secure the White House in November.”
A windfall
De Volkskrant columnist Sander Schimmelpenninck compares the attack to the Reichstag fire of 1933, which ushered in the Nazis' persecution of their opponents:
“Trump will try to do exactly the same thing when he comes to power, and in this respect the attack is a gift from heaven. Conservatives have been calling for an 'American revolution' for decades, and now it's very close. ... Hitler had to first rise to power before he could dominate the information channels. Thanks to social media, and with Elon Musk as his closest ally, Trump already has some of the information power in his hands. His supporters are already blaming the 'left' for the assassination attempt, thereby creating a dynamic in which the truth hardly matters anymore. ... Trump has come another step closer to his dictatorship.”
This will eclipse all the bad things
La Repubblica sees this as a turning point:
“Trump was successful, sure, but nobody appreciated him, neither as a businessman nor as a politician - and then there was his private life with its sordid marriage episodes and the statements of his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who portrayed him in interviews and on the witness stand as selfish, lecherous and greedy. ... This Trump, this narrative of dubious dossiers, of love affairs in the shadow of his paedophile friend Epstein, up to and including the failed coup in January 2021, will now end up in the antiques shop, invisible behind the videos and pictures of the rally in Butler. ... The picture by AP photographer Evan Vucci, a Pulitzer Prize winner who has been able to score another coup late in his career, has given birth to the new Donald Trump that friends and foes, America and the world must reckon with.”
How will the undecided vote?
The outcome of the election is still wide open, says Seznam Zprávy:
“Emotions are running high today. And yes, the pictures of a bloodied Trump with his hand raised in a fist and an American flag in the background are fantastic. The only question now is whether Trump will have them framed and displayed in the White House or in his mansion in Mar-a-Lago. Because we can already see that everyone will find what they need in the symbolism of these photos. Polarisation will increase, but it's naive to think that still undecided voters will plump for Trump just because of yesterday's assassination attempt.”
Democrats still have an ace up their sleeve
Political scientist Abbas Gallyamov doubts the assasination attempt will secure victory for Trump. He writes on Facebook:
“The ex-president's poll ratings will rise for a while, but there are still three and a half months to go until the election. And before that the key talking points will change more than once. If the Democrats replace Biden this will completely eclipse the attempted assassination and radically reduce its effect. In that sense the Democrats are lucky that they didn't replace their candidate sooner. By clinging to power, Biden has done his fellow party members an invaluable service. Now they have something to counter Trump's ear with.”
Don't turn the arsonist into the firefighter
eldiario.es also believes the shooting could mark a turning point in the Democrats' favour:
“Voters are very sensitive animals. This may have been the darkest decade the US has witnessed since the terrible 1960s and their dreadful record of political violence. Giving the arsonist the job of putting out the fires generally doesn't turn out to be a good idea. ... The message of revenge and settling scores for the defeat in 2020 that has marked Trump's election campaign could now backfire. In processes of extreme polarisation, there often comes a moment when the mythical average voter says that's it, they've had enough.”
Attacker shot Biden into retirement
Biden will step down as president this week, columnist Valeri Naydenov predicts in 24 Chasa:
“The would-be assassin aimed at Donald Trump, but the ricochet hit Joe Biden, speeding up plans for his early retirement. I'll bet 10 Leva that the news comes this week. ... If Biden resigns by Wednesday, Kamala Harris will immediately take the oath and, like a giant magnet, attract all the microphones, cameras and reporters with their notepads at the ready. She'll become the first female president, and a black one at that. For at least a week everything will revolve around her, and the targeted Trump will be neglected by the media.”
Don't focus on the danger posed by Trump
Democrats should now concentrate on the political programme in their election campaign, Corriere del Ticino advises:
“It's true that in the course of his recent political experience Donald Trump has adopted stances that are unacceptable in a democratic system. ... But if they focus too much in the election campaign on the danger the tycoon would pose to American democracy if he were re-elected, Democrats will fail to address the numerous economic and social challenges faced by a large section of American citizens. And if today's politics are now tinged with blood, it's because we're moving in a dangerous direction. Trump, however, only seems to be thinking about how he can capitalise on the attack.”