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Two days before the Republican National Convention opened in Milwaukee, an assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump shocked the nation. The image of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air as Secret Service agents dragged him off the stage will be etched in the American mind for a very long time.
President Trump’s comments on Truth Social the night of the shooting were calm and thoughtful, thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement, and offering his condolences to the families of one rallygoer who was killed and others who were seriously injured.
In a chilling account, he wrote: “I was shot through my right ear. I knew immediately something was wrong, I heard a whistling sound, gunshots, and immediately felt the bullet pierce my skin.” He had nothing else to say except a heartfelt, “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
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Former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate, is rushed off stage by U.S. Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
I spoke with President Trump on the phone Sunday, and he told me that bringing the country together is a big part of the message he wants to deliver now. He talked about delivering “a tough speech on Democrats,” which he has reworked to fit his new intention.
The last time we faced such a terrifying situation was in 1981, when a gunman attempted to assassinate President Reagan. Jerry Parr, the Secret Service agent who pushed Reagan into the car to get him out of danger before he even realized he was injured, once said that being president is dangerous. That applies to past presidents, too. But does it have to be that way?
View of police and Secret Service agents as they dive to protect President Ronald Reagan amid a panicked crowd during an assassination attempt (by John Hinckley Jr) outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington DC. ((Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images))
What to do with our sense of horror? The example of Melania Trump, our former first lady, provides a lesson. In comparing Mrs. Trump, I couldn’t help but think of Jackie Kennedy, dressed in her blood-stained pink suit on the day of JFK’s assassination 60 years ago. Several people, including Lyndon Johnson, encouraged her to change into clean clothes, but she refused. “Let them see what they’ve done,” she said.
FILE – The day after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, American politician and Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908 – 1973) is sworn in to become the 36th President of the United States as he is sworn in before U.S. Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes (1896 – 1985) (left) on the presidential plane, Air Force One, Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963. Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy (later Onassis) stands with him on the right. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
This anger and desire for revenge is a natural reaction, but I was struck by how Mrs. Trump set a tone that was both deeply personal and soothing to the nation.
MELANIA TRUMP CALLS FOR COUNTRY ‘REUNIFICATION’ AFTER NEAR-ASSASSINATION
She began with a moving account of her horror and sadness. “When I saw that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized that my life and Barron’s life were about to change dramatically. I am grateful to the brave Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers who risked their own lives to protect my husband…
“A monster who saw in my husband an inhuman political machine tried to silence Donald’s passion, his laughter, his ingenuity, his love of music and his inspiration. The fundamental aspects of my husband’s life, his human side, were buried under the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man with whom I was in the best and worst of times.”
But Mrs. Trump then emphasized what we share as human beings and as a people, and our common obligation to rise above our political differences.
Former first lady Melania Trump speaks at the National Archives naturalization ceremony. (CSPAN)
“Let us not forget that divergent opinions, politics and political games are inferior to love. Our personal, structural and life-to-death commitment is seriously threatened. Political concepts are simple when compared to us, human beings…
“This morning, let us rise above the hatred, the vitriol, and the simplistic ideas that fuel violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, where family is first, and where love transcends. We can make that world come true again. Each of us must demand to have it back. We must insist that respect is once again the cornerstone of our relationships.”
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I applaud Mrs. Trump’s dignity and sense of public responsibility. Many others, on both sides of the political divide, have expressed a similar desire.
In an editorial published Saturday night, when the assassination attempt was still fresh and emotions were still running high, the Wall Street Journal raised the possibility that the incident could be “a redemptive political moment.” While praising President Trump for his “strength of character,” the Journal urged him to use the moment to call for unity.
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“His opportunity now is to present himself as someone who can rise above the attack on his life and unify the country,” the Journal wrote.
The editors also warned both parties to stop portraying the stakes of the election in apocalyptic terms. “Democracy will not disappear if either candidate is elected. Fascism will not disappear if Mr. Trump wins, unless you have little faith in American institutions.”
This point was also made by former Attorney General Bill Barr, who called on Democrats to stop calling President Trump an existential threat to democracy — a claim he called “grossly irresponsible.”
It was like a violent shock to our public conscience, a wake-up call that asked: “What are we doing here?”
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There has been so much vitriol and demonization in our public debate, and we may have reached a tipping point, where people are finally ready to rein it in. Many voices on both sides of the political spectrum are echoing this call.
Speaking Saturday night, President Biden called the attack “sick” and said, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence.”
He repeated that message Sunday afternoon, stressing: “Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is as important as that right now…. We will debate and we will disagree, but we will not lose sight of who we are as Americans.”
President Trump posted a message on Truth Social after Biden’s comments, simply saying, “LET’S UNITE AMERICA.”
Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the shooting a “despicable attack on a peaceful gathering,” also stressing that “violence has no place in our politics.”
These calls for unity echo what I hear every week on my podcast, Common Ground , where I host public officials from both sides of the aisle respectfully discussing their differences. But today, we all face the question: What would it mean to back up these calls for unity with concrete action, to make them more than a post-traumatic response that simply acknowledges the need to come together?
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Is there a way to restore civility even as we fiercely debate different positions on certain issues?
We are in a pivotal moment where we have a choice to do so. As we enter the political convention season with the Republican convention opening on Monday, we can all use this reality check from Melania Trump and heed her call to “rise above hate.”
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