rahim mohamed: the attempt on trump's life has made his re-election all but inevitable
if the results of november’s presidential election weren’t already a foregone conclusion, they are now
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presumptive republican presidential candidate donald trump looks to be ok after a bullet grazed his ear on saturday evening, in a failed attempt on his life at a campaign rally in butler, pa.
trump, who was already reportedly expecting a landslide victory in november before the dramatic turn of events on saturday, can now go ahead and start measuring the drapes in preparation for his near-inevitable return to the white house.
it’s a done deal, folks. especially after a photographer at the scene captured a perfectly timed photo of a bloodied trump raising a fist in defiance while being swarmed by secret service agents, somehow standing almost directly under an american flag. it’s an image that will no doubt go down in the annals of history, and one that’s likely to snuff out any remaining hope the democrats had of keeping trump from recapturing the presidency.
a live shot of the scene caught trump telling members of his security detail to “wait” before pumping his fist in the air and mouthing the words “fight, fight, fight” to the stunned crowd of supporters.
even people who weren’t fans of trump beforehand had to be impressed by his grace under literal gunfire.
as of this writing, little information has been made public about the shooter. an eyewitness told bbc news that he saw a man armed with a rifle scale a rooftop near the venue while trump was speaking. the witness claimed the would-be assassin was killed by the secret service after opening fire on the crowd.
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now juxtapose trump’s public display of vigour and bravery in the face of a near-death experience with president joe biden’s outward feebleness, which looks to only be getting worse as the campaign heats up.
the embattled incumbent president made two embarrassing gaffes while closing out a nato summit in washington, d.c., on thursday.
first, he called ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy “president putin.” then, during an evening press conference, he embarrassingly referred to his running mate, kamala harris, as “vice-president trump.” members of biden’s cabinet who were in attendance, including secretary of state antony blinken and defence secretary lloyd austin, looked visibly dejected by the mix-up.
this was the second major test that biden failed in two weeks, after a disastrous debate performance in late june brought lingering questions about the 81-year-old president’s physical and cognitive fitness to the forefront of the campaign. last week, biden stumbled through a softball interview with abc’s george stephanopoulos, which left the interviewer doubting that he could last four more years in office.
biden is, for now, adamant that he’s staying in the race, undeterred by his dismal poll numbers and the 20 democratic members of congress who’ve publicly called for him to step aside. movie star george clooney, a longtime democratic party donor and fundraiser, added his voice to the chorus on wednesday, writing an op-ed in the new york times calling on the party to find a new nominee.
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(biden gave a brief statement in response to the shooting on saturday evening, calling the incident “sick,” but stopping short of saying that it was an assassination attempt. referring to his political rival by his first name, “donald,” biden said he hoped to speak with him soon.)
while trump is no spring chicken himself at 78, he’s run laps around biden thus far into the campaign, and gleefully used the president’s evident decline as political fodder.
in one of the most memorable moments from last month’s presidential debate, trump quipped, “i really don’t know what (biden) said at the end of that sentence, i don’t think he knows what he said either,” after the president gave a rambling response to a question about illegal immigration. this incident underscored the contrast between trump’s sharp tongue and biden’s increasing difficulty putting his thoughts into words.
saturday’s events merely solidified the already pervasive campaign narrative, further highlighting the contrast between trump’s vigour and biden’s torpor.
at this point, it’s doubtful that even swapping biden out for a stronger candidate can salvage the democratic party’s chances of holding onto the white house. trump, who’s shrugged off the myriad obstacles that have been tossed in his way, has now shown himself to be bulletproof — literally.
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if the results of november’s presidential election weren’t already a foregone conclusion, they are now. donald trump will be the 47th president of the united states and just the second president in history, following grover cleveland, to serve non-consecutive terms.
the election’s outcome has been sealed with a bullet.
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