2024-07-14 10:38:56
Presidential candidate Donald Trump becomes the target of an attack. Some Republicans use the incident to further fuel anger in the country.
In a picture taken shortly after the incident, Trump can be seen raising his fist to the sky as he leaves the stage. A large American flag is flying behind him. This photo is currently being shared on social media by prominent figures from the right-wing camp. Both Tesla boss Elon Musk and the controversial US presenter Tucker Carlson shared it. Apparently it is intended to show the strength of the Republican presidential candidate. As can be heard on videos, Trump shouted “Fight!” to his supporters while making this gesture.
The motive and background of the shooting at the event are still unclear. Both Republicans and Democrats condemned the violence in statements on social media. But some reactions from Washington are causing concern and are causing observers to fear that the mood in the country could change and that further violence could occur. The first prominent people from Trump’s circle are now trying to use the incident to incite hatred against the Democrats. They want to blame US President Joe Biden for an alleged “assassination attempt” on Trump.
Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, shared an alleged quote from US President Biden on X: “We’re done talking about the TV debate, it’s time to target Trump,” Biden is said to have said last week. An announcement that obviously refers to the election campaign but which Grenell is now exploiting for his own purposes. “Five days later, someone followed Joe Biden’s instructions,” Grenell writes about the quote, making the US President indirectly responsible for the attack in Pennsylvania.
Numerous people on X criticized Grenell’s words. “We do not know the identity of the shooter, his motive, or his political affiliation at this time. No one on the Biden campaign called for violence against Trump. They are trying to use this for your political gain, which is pretty disgusting right after a tragic incident,” one user wrote in response to Grenell’s post.
One of Trump’s possible running mates also blamed the rhetoric of Biden’s campaign team for the alleged attack on Trump. Republican Senator JD Vance wrote on X: “Today is not an isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” said Vance. This rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s “attempted assassination.”
It is sentences like these that have actually caused outbreaks of violence in the past. The political mood in the USA has been heated for years. At the beginning of the year, the US Department of Justice complained about a “deeply disturbing increase in threats” against officials and democratic institutions in the country. The election on November 5th this year will be the first presidential election since the dramatic upheavals surrounding the 2020 vote, which ended in an unprecedented outbreak of violence.