The extraordinary images of a defiant Donald Trump raising his fist in the air, with blood on his face, being removed from the stage by the Secret Service are not just historic – they could very well change the course of November’s presidential elections.
This shocking act of political violence will inevitably have an effect on the campaign. US Secret Service agents shot the suspect dead at the scene. And police sources told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that they are treating the attack as an assassination attempt.
The image — of a bleeding Mr. Trump, with his fist in the air, being escorted away — was quickly posted to social media by his son. Eric Trump with the caption: “This is the fighter America needs.”
President Joe Biden appeared on TV shortly after the shooting and said there was no place in America for political violence like this. He expressed concern about his Republican opponent and said he hoped to speak with him later tonight.
Biden’s election campaign has paused all political statements and is working to take its television ads off the air as quickly as possible, clearly believing that it would be inappropriate to attack Donald Trump at this time and focusing on condemning what has happened.
Politicians from across the political spectrum – people who agree on little else – are uniting to say that violence has no place in a democracy.
Former presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were quick to denounce the violence and said how relieved they were that Trump had not been seriously injured.
But some of Trump’s closest allies and supporters are already blaming Biden for the violence, with one Republican congressman accusing the president of “inciting murder” in an X post.
Senator JD Vance, who is believed to be on the shortlist to become Trump’s vice presidential nominee, said Biden’s campaign rhetoric directly led to this incident.
Other Republican politicians are saying similar things, which will almost certainly be condemned by their opponents as incendiary at a dangerous moment in American politics.
We can already see the battle lines being drawn in what could become a very ugly fight over a deeply shocking incident. And that will reshape the electoral campaign.
