'Has Trump Already Won the Election?' After Assassination Attempt

An assassination attempt on DonaldTrump while he was speaking at a campaign rally on Saturday left the former president with a minor injury to his ear. A spectator in the crowd listening to him behind Trump died when one of the bullets aimed at Trump hit him, and two other spectators were injured. Meanwhile, the attacker was immediately located and captured dead.

A few hours after this assassination attempt, President Joe Biden held a short press conference to condemn the shooting, to express his sincere condolences to Trump as 'Donald', and to share with the American people his dismay at this act of political violence.

As in Turkey, we have witnessed many people around the world and especially in the US, especially on social media platforms, putting forward conspiracy theories about this assassination attempt. Trump opponents were quick to claim that the attack was a 'planned theatre'. His supporters, on the other hand, continued to express their certainty that the attack was carried out by a left-wing Democrat, even ignoring the FBI's announcement that the dead assailant was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, apparently a registered Republican.

This scepticism on both sides of the American political spectrum is in fact an outward reflection of the deep political divide that has become more pronounced in the United States in recent years. The race between the two presidential candidates will certainly take a different course after the assassination attempt, and the two rivals will continue their campaigns by putting more pressure on each other. However, everything that takes place in the American public opinion in front of the eyes of the world community immediately attracts the world's attention. The US is certainly not just any country. It is a country that is responsible for many good and bad things that happen in the world. Therefore, presidential races, political debates, possible regime problems and similar issues are of interest not only to Americans but also to everyone living in the world. Thanks to the American communication giants that dominate the world media, especially the social media, we are all like ordinary people living in the USA. While we are sometimes not even aware of some things that happen in our own country, we are somehow aware of everything that happens in the USA. Now, while both sides are seeking political gains in the 2024 presidential race, it is noteworthy that a major escalation of political violence across the US is being ignored.

Has the Presidential Race in the US been reset?

According to some, the presidential race in the US has been reset. Now everything starts all over again. In fact, Trump, who was the target of this assassination attempt and survived, has already declared his victory as a result. As his security guards escorted him off the stage and his supporters chanted "USA, USA!", he defiantly raised his fist in the air and demonstrated strong leadership. The ex-president had the full attention of the public and the media, and he made the most of it. After all, as someone who 'narrowly escaped with his life', he had every right to do so.

The shift of the spotlight to Trump ironically also worked in Biden's favour. There were countless discussions and evaluations that the current president should not represent the Democrats in the presidential race due to Biden's advancing age and his blunders, as well as the noticeable 'inadequacy' in his cognitive abilities when he confronted Trump on the television screen. I believe that this assassination attempt, which has now put an end to all this, has given Biden a chance to breathe a new breath of fresh air and start his campaign all over again by resetting it like Trump.

Now a new hope has emerged for the Democrats. They need a new strategy to squeeze Trump, to criminalise him in the eyes of the public, and to use the arguments they have against the former president in a more organised way. As attention continues to be focused on Trump, they need to make clear to the American people his extremism, his legal problems and the potential damage to American society that his party's comprehensive Project 2025 Plan will cause - in short, the problems of 'right-wing extremism'.

I see Project 2025 as an important issue in this respect. It contains a wide range of Republican policy proposals, from foreign affairs to education. It's like an unofficial Republican party programme. Project 2025, prepared by the Heritage Foundation think tank, consists of approximately 900 pages. Led by former Trump administration officials, it calls for the dismissal of thousands of civil servants, the expansion of the president's powers, the abolition of the Federal Department of Education, sweeping tax cuts, a ban on pornography, a halt to the sale of abortion pills and much more.

If the Democrats are able to push through a political agenda, including Project 2025, that equates Trump with the rising far-right wave, more moderate Americans, who tend to support Trump, may become agitated and refuse to vote for him.

Polarisation and violence

The shooting fits well into the narrative that Trump was robbed of his second term, attacked and victimised. Since losing the election to Biden in 2020, Trump has maintained his place in the spotlight as a portrait of a man who cannot accept this defeat. He has also presented himself as the target of the Biden administration, claimed that 'the 2020 election was interfered with' and characterised all the lawsuits against him as political persecution.

Trump even suggested that the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022 to obtain confidential documents was an assassination attempt against him by the feds. Trump, who was convicted of serious crimes by a court in New York last May, continued to make statements implying that he was a 'victim' and that the Biden administration was trying to keep him out of the presidential race and discredit him in the eyes of the public by using state power. Meanwhile, his supporters attacked the jurors of the court that delivered the verdict, while some extremists continued to call for the murder of the judge and for rebellion to put an end to the injustices against Trump.

In short, Trump's base is quick to react to any action perceived to harm him. Journalists who were on the scene after the shooting at the rally on Saturday reported on threats and taunts from the crowd immediately after the incident. There is a really angry and violent Republican crowd. They are staunchly behind Trump.

On the other hand, Trump, who adopts a different attitude from his supporters, speaks 'without anger'. He considers it necessary to use soft language. He called for 'not letting evil win'. Trump, who is known to have a personality more prone to conspiracy theories and polarising messages, seems to have taken a common sense path to control his base after the armed attack against him. I believe that Trump does not want to allow the assassination attempt to further fuel the fire of violent radicalism.

Conclusion

Before the assassination attempt, it was rumoured that Trump's chances of being elected president for the second time were quite high. Now, in the last two days, this probability has increased even more. No justification, including Trump's polarising language, can justify an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate. Inevitably, the opposing side is blamed for this. This is what is happening in the United States. The Democrats are the first suspects in the assassination attempt against the Republican presidential candidate. This is what the Republican masses think. It is certain that until the end of this year we will witness countless discussions between Democrats and Republicans about who organised the assassination as well as the presidential race. Maybe even a film will be made in a few months.

After all, for many, Trump has secured his position as the next American president by surviving this assassination attempt. According to some, this fake assassination attempt was God's favour to Trump. Whatever happened, it was not good for Biden. He was already looking like a 'weak' candidate as an 'incompetent' president. Now his job has become even more difficult. Unless a miracle happens, Biden seems to have already lost against Trump. The only way to reverse this is for the Democrats to start the race all over again with a new, unworn, politically experienced and young candidate. However, there is no such new political movement on the horizon...