They say time flies when you’re having fun — clearly, if the past month or two is/are any indicator, it also flies when you’re deluged with a wild news cycle (which often isn’t fun, even if it might get the adrenaline pumping).
Or maybe it just flies more noticeably when you’re in your mid-50s, as I am. As such, I’m old enough to remember the near miss when Ronald Reagan was shot in March 1981. At the time, I didn’t fully appreciate just how near a miss it was — in part because initial reports didn’t fully convey the severity of the situation, but mostly because I was only 12 years old. I did, however, understand the deep wound left by the assassination of John F. Kennedy — even though that was before my time, I recall seeing news reports and reading articles about it and the sort of unspoken, sad reverence with which my parents and other adults I knew treated the situation.
Both were on my mind a month ago as I processed what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, on that late Saturday afternoon. The emotions ran the gamut and maybe intensified as it became clear that literally seconds and millimeters are what made the difference in terms of Donald Trump’s survival. While the serious injuries to David Dutch and James Copenhaver and the tragic death of Corey Comperatore should never be forgotten or minimized, the fact that Trump came that close to being killed — and that we, as a nation, came that close to having a former and possible future president and larger-than-life political figure assassinated — is still almost impossible to wrap my mind around.
Clearly, Trump himself is quite well aware of how close a call it was. He spoke of it at the RNC and again Monday night during his X conversation with Elon Musk, referring to it as “a miracle” and noting that while he was a believer before, he’s even “more of a believer” in God now.
‘You’d Be Talking to Me From Another Realm’: Musk to Trump
on Near Miss of Assassination Attempt
As Trump explained to Musk, the immigration chart to which he was referring when he turned his head ever-so-slightly to the right — allowing the bullet to just nick his right ear rather than strike him full-on — usually is to his left, and he normally refers to it more toward the end of his speech rather than near the beginning as he did on July 13. The shooter, Thomas Crooks, was distracted by the local police officer who hoisted himself up onto the roof, so perhaps rushed his shot moments later. We came within seconds and millimeters of an unspeakable disaster.
While there was so much that went wrong that day from a security perspective, and while there remain so many unanswered questions in relation to that, one thing that clearly went right was that slight tilt of Trump’s head at just the right moment. Because as polarizing a figure as he may be, the damage his death at the hands of an assassin would have inflicted on an already roiled nation (and world) is something I really don’t want to contemplate.
Oh, I know there was no shortage of those who expressed disappointment that the assassin “missed.” Some of those, I expect, are people who’ve just gotten inured to the political toxicity that reigns supreme and spoke without truly thinking it through. But some, no doubt, were sincere in that sentiment. That’s a dark, very dark place to be/get to, so truly, pray that their hearts will be softened and the evil that’s consuming them will be cast out. If you’re at a place where you’re wishing death on your political opposition, you need God. (Well, we all need God, but if you’re at that point, you need some added divine intervention.)
Remember, too, that there were many who, in that instant, let their partisan guard down and recognized the blessing that we were spared that disaster and developed a grudging admiration for Trump and his fortitude.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Unexpected Reaction to Trump Assassination Attempt
From a political standpoint, it’s fascinating to look at how much has changed in the month since. Immediately after, there was the sense by many (laments by some) that the attempt and Trump’s instinctive reaction in its aftermath had all but sealed the deal in terms of the election. And then things got flipped on their head again with Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race eight days later, and the incredible 180 the legacy media and the Democrats (does it still make sense to refer to them separately?) did on Kamala Harris.
What will things look like in another month? Will we have any more answers about why and how things went so horribly wrong from a security standpoint? Will there be any accountability on the part of those who failed so badly at such a critical mission?
I’ve seen enough at this point to say only this is for certain: I don’t know. None of us does.
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