[Read Macaulay's column on liberal attorneys "going high" in The Gray Area; "Liberal Lameness"]
By Stephen Macaulay
First, let’s get this out of the way:
Donald Trump should not have been the victim of a shooter and while it is bad that he was wounded at all, it is a good thing that things weren’t worse.
Violence has no place in politics.
After Ronald Reagan was shot in March 1981 he reportedly said to his wife when she arrived at the hospital, “Honey, I forgot to duck.”
Reagan was rolled into the operating room and joked to the surgeons, “Please tell me you’re Republicans.”
When Donald Trump rose bleeding from behind the lectern, he shook his fist and shouted “Fight, fight, fight!”
Violence has no place in politics.
Who was he exhorting the crowd to fight?
The alleged shooter is identified as Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old born and bred in Pennsylvania. He was a high school graduate and he also obtained an associate degree in engineering science from the Community College of Allegheny County. He had a job in a nursing home as a dietary aide.
At this point there is no indication of a political or ideological leaning that might have led him to this heinous act.
Which is to say that he doesn’t check any of the boxes of people whom Trump might want his supporters to fight.
That said, it bears repeating:
It is good that Donald Trump was not injured more grievously and he shouldn’t have been injured at all.
Violence has no place in politics.
•
Which brings us to Joe Biden.
Yes, it is a good thing that he is calling for the nation to cool down. For unity.
Not to fight.
But this doesn’t take away from the fact that he is a huge liability for Democrats in the 2024 election.
Donald Trump gets shot and then stands up and shakes his fist.
One imagines that Joe Biden would trip on a rug and then say in a trembling voice, “I’ve fallen and can’t get up.”
The reporting is that the move to remove Biden has been quelled since the sad event of Saturday night.
Why?
Do the Democrat members of Congress somehow think that Biden’s debate performance will be forgotten? Did the press conference sufficiently quell their concerns?
Do they think that (a) he can beat a now-even-more-popular Donald Trump and (b) that were he to win he would be capable of performing the job, which arguably requires work after 8 p.m. and on weekends and holidays?
The excuses about him winning the primaries or being the only one who has proven to beat Donald Trump are just that — things that are said to avoid the issue at hand, which is that the support of Biden’s policies is not something that exists in sufficient numbers among the American polity.
In May, Biden’s job approval rating was, overall, at 39%, according to Gallup.
And to break those numbers down:
- Democrats, 82%
- Independents, 34%
- Republicans, 2%
Given that there are members of his own party who have asked him to leave the race, that 82% is probably a lower number today.
And that 34% of Independents is not good since they will be important to any chances of his reelection, and that number has also undoubtedly decreased.
Here’s something to think about: according to the Pew Research Center:
“Overall, 68% of those who voted in the 2020 presidential election turned out to vote in the 2022 midterms. Former President Donald Trump’s voters turned out at a higher rate in 2022 (71%) than did President Joe Biden’s voters (67%).”
Does anyone imagine fewer Trump 2020 voters will turn out in 2024?
At this point, the likelihood of Donald Trump being reelected is greater than it was, say, Friday, and even then it was likely.
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Blackburn Leads Off Monday in RNC
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is scheduled to kick off the prime time highlights of the Republican National Convention, Monday. A spokesman for the senator confirms that plans haven’t changed in light of the attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump, Axios reports.
Other featured speakers this week according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel include Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, and senate candidate Eric Hovde, former Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson, country music star Lee Greenwood, Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and key members of Trump’s family.
The RNC event chair is former Trump administration official and former GOP chairman Reince Priebus.
Your thoughts on the convention proceedings, the assassination attempt on Trump and other recent issues are always welcome.
Enter your thoughts into the Comments section in this column if you lean right, or in the right column if you lean liberal. Or email editors@thehustings.news and please tell us whether you lean red or blue in the subject line.