Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was a frightening and disgraceful calamity for a nation on edge. A 20-year-old gunman fired several times during a campaign rally, grazing Trump’s ear with one bullet, before he was shot and killed by law enforcement.
There are many questions in need of answers — security at the event, chief among them — but this moment calls for lowering the temperature of our political rhetoric, including by the former president himself. While passion in our civic affairs can be constructive, that energy must be channeled toward building a better future and not tearing the country apart — and it must start with those elected to positions of public trust.
On Saturday afternoon, the FBI says a young man, acting alone, fired several shots from an AR-15-style rifle while positioned atop a building roughly a football field away from where the former president was addressing supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was struck before Secret Service agents and local enforcement surrounded him and covered him on the stage. Corey Comperatore, a volunteer fire chief, was killed and two others in the crowd were injured. Law enforcement shot and killed the shooter.
The Secret Service needs to account for how an armed individual could establish himself in an elevated position so close to a former president, and why Trump wasn’t rushed from the stage more expeditiously. Trump pumped his fist to the crowd, exposing himself to the possibility of another shooter, instead of being quickly moved to safety.
Still, the nation can be thankful that Trump was not more seriously injured and that a would-be assassin did not permanently alter this country’s direction. The United States’ trajectory should be determined by voters at the ballot box, not one scoundrel with a gun.
This isn’t the first instance of political violence in this country, of course, and even our modern era has experienced incidents of terrible acts perpetrated against those in office.
Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 while speaking with constituents in her district. In 2017, a gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress at a baseball field in Alexandria, severely injuring U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, was attacked in the couple’s San Francisco home in 2022 by an intruder looking for the then-speaker of the House.
After each of these incidents, elected officials and the commentariat have urged calm and called for those who engage in our political system to act with caution, care and compassion. And after each, those warnings and pleas for restraint have been abandoned, only to have another tragedy jolt us into self-reflection.
This time must be different. There is too much vitriol and violent rhetoric in our public discourse that, when combined with our country’s alarming rate of mental illness and virtually unfettered access to guns, makes for a combustible brew. Those across the political spectrum must act responsibly and choose their words carefully.
That includes the former president, who has repeatedly refused to condemn violence in the political arena. He endorsed the right-wing Proud Boys militia during a 2020 presidential debate, excuses the Jan. 6 Capitol attackers and mocked Pelosi’s husband after his shocking attack. Trump has egged on his most dangerous supporters with predictable results. It’s long past time he was part of the solution, rather than a large part of the problem.
In Virginia, we should applaud those seeking to change the tone. House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, and Republican Leader Todd Gilbert issued a joint statement on Saturday condemning the shooting and affirming that political decisions in America should only come through free and fair elections.
Passion in our political system is laudable, so long as it is directed toward constructive ends. Those fearful of what the future holds after November should expend their energy working within this system to peacefully deliver the change they hope to see in this country.
