In the first few fraught hours after what for all intents and purposes looks like an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, some of his most ardent supporters did little to de-escalate the highly charged political environment. Instead, in the hours after a gunman attacked Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening, multiple congressional Republicans attempted to blame the violent attack on Democrats and the press.
Shortly after Trump was injured in the shooting, MAGA stalwart Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) sent out a series of posts describing the incident as the fault of the media and Trump’s political opponents. Along with being inflammatory, her posts featured clear mischaracterizations.
In a post on X.com just minutes after the shooting, Greene referenced the fact that a bloodied Trump had told his supporters to “fight” as he got up after taking cover.
“Someone just tried to ASSASSINATE President Trump. The Democrats and the media are to blame for every drop of blood spilled today. For years and years, they’ve demonized him and his supporters. Today, someone finally tried to take out the leader of our America First and the greatest President of all time,” Greene wrote, adding, “President Trump said “FIGHT,” SO WE WILL!!”
Greene also shared that message on the Telegram social network, where she elaborated, criticizing Democratic members of Congress who proposed legislation earlier this year that would remove Secret Service protections from anyone convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison for at least a year. Green described the legislation as an attempt to “TERMINATE President Trump’s Secret Service protection” in three separate messages where she highlighted eight co-sponsors of the legislation. As of now, the legislation, which did not actually specifically mention Trump, is unlikely to pass in the GOP House. Trump, who became a convicted felon last month after a New York jury found him guilty in the hush money case, has not been sentenced and, as of now, would not be affected by the proposal.
Less than an hour after her initial X post, Greene shared a series of screenshots showing articles that noted there was an incident at Trump’s rally without describing it as a shooting. The screenshots were indicative of the kind of cautious language media outlets use in quickly breaking stories when the nature of the incident has not been confirmed. However, Greene framed them as deliberate lies and evidence for her claim the press was to blame.
“LIARS! These scumbags in the media are responsible for what happened today,” Greene wrote. “People were shot (potentially killed) and this is what they claimed happened.”
Greene has a long history of promoting conspiracy theories. She did not respond to questions about whether she was concerned her comments might further inflame tensions.
Another Trump-endorsed House member from Greene’s home state, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), similarly responded to the shooting with a post on X that declared “Joe Biden sent the orders.” Collins included a screenshot of a comment President Biden made during a call last week with Democratic donors discussing the concerns about flagging enthusiasm for Biden’s candidacy and the state of his re-election race against Trump. In that call, Biden suggested that he wanted to “beat Donald Trump” and that, rather than focusing on Biden, it was time for the party’s leaders to “put Trump in a bullseye.” In a followup post, Collins suggested the political comment was grounds for authorities to “immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Collins did not respond to a request for comment.
Ahead of the event, Trump sent out a fundraising email suggesting he might announce his running mate on the stage. One of the Republicans who is widely considered to be in the mix for that position, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), also made an X post blaming Biden’s “rhetoric” for the shooting.
“Today is not just some 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,” Vance wrote. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For his part, Biden responded to the incident with remarks where he denounced political violence. Biden has indeed framed Trump as an authoritarian threat. That characterization comes after Trump spearheaded a conspiracy theory-fueled effort to stay in power that helped lead to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Overall, the shooting of Trump is part of a rising tide of political violence in this nation. This nearly decade-long eruption has coincided with a wave of starkly polarized rhetoric and misinformation online. Today’s dark moment is further proof that the toxic political climate shows no sign of breaking.
They can’t help themselves.
Remember how sympathetic when Paul Pelosi was almost killed in his home? Trump and many were laughing about it.
Both parties are not the same….
Apparently
“Inability to Read the Room”
is an incurable disease.
Of course they went immediately on the attack. Think back to Ronald Reagan, During his first term, his Administration was stagnating and his personal popularity was stagnating. The he got shot. The nation rallied around him, and they stayed there after he recovered. He got a second term. Which led to GHWB. Which led to Dubya. And likely, which led to Trump. Who will now be praised as an almost-martyr. The Democrats absolutely don’t need any of that.
This assassination attempt was worse than tragic - it was also stupid beyond belief.
I fully expect that Trump will recover just fine - his wounds are minor at worst. But I also pray that somehow, this attempt on his life will not rebound in his favor, and that people will think much more about Project 25, which will have a vastly profound and devastating effect on our nation. We need Biden and Democratic majorities in both Houses, or else we’ll wind up with a king - and absolutely not a Philosopher King.