President Biden and US politics catchall

[Raggs]

Had blood on his ear too. I hate the fact that the idea of it being staged comes into my mind.

[fishfoodie]

2nd Amendment; WHOOOOOOO, HOOOOOOOOO !

[Uncle fester]

Trump rushed off stage at Pennsylvania rally as loud noises heard

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1d31jeyzlo

Hopefully nothing too minor.

[fishfoodie]

Had blood on his ear too. I hate the fact that the idea of it being staged comes into my mind.

Of course it does !, how can any rational human being reconcile a cowardly sack of shit immediately shaking his fist against a real attacker, when he recoiled like a chickenshit coward when faced with an angry bird !!!!

Why this time wasn't there a 2" thick sheet of plexiglass in front of him like there always is ????

I smells like week old fish !

[sturginho]

Had blood on his ear too. I hate the fact that the idea of it being staged comes into my mind.

It was the first thought that came to my mind when I saw the photo

[Gumboot]

Looks dodgy, like he's biting on a fake blood pellet...

[Kiwias]

Had blood on his ear too. I hate the fact that the idea of it being staged comes into my mind.

It was the first thought that came to my mind when I saw the photo

Looked like Bloodgate to me too

[Gumboot]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

[Gumboot]

Very strange motion with his hand to his ear...

WTAF is going on??

[fishfoodie]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

Explain to me how all these supposed shots managed to miss everyone behind him !

[Gumboot]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

Explain to me how all these supposed shots managed to miss everyone behind him !

Mate the more I see of it the more I haven't got a clue what's going on. If it's staged, it's quite the production.

[Uncle fester]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

Explain to me how all these supposed shots managed to miss everyone behind him !

Good footage on BBC at the moment. Seems it went across the stage rather than through it.

[fishfoodie]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

Explain to me how all these supposed shots managed to miss everyone behind him !

Mate the more I see of it the more I haven't got a clue what's going on. If it's staged, it's quite the production.

Like others I almost wish I could just accept this as reality, but with whose involved, & the behavior I've never seen before it all looks rigged

[fishfoodie]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

Explain to me how all these supposed shots managed to miss everyone behind him !

Good footage on BBC at the moment. Seems it went across the stage rather than through it.

When have you ever seen a candidate, or a President in the US ever giving a speech & not being in a bulletproof lexan box when doing so ?

[Gumboot]

"Butler county district attorney Richard Goldinger tells me Trump was grazed by gunfire but is safe," Washington Post journalist Meryl Kornfield wrote on social media.

"An audience member was killed and the shooter is dead. Another person is in serious condition, the prosecutor said."

[Uncle fester]

Confirmed that 2 people are dead

[Gumboot]

Worst Seal Team 6 operation evah!

[Enzedder]

Joe's hand is surely too unsteady to try on this shite.

[Jethro]

Just seen some video, and it actually looks legit. No idea how the blood got on his face, but the secret service agents' response didn't look staged. Bizarre.

Explain to me how all these supposed shots managed to miss everyone behind him !

They didn't, deaths are being reported, though low priority, MAGA supporters etc.

[Sinkers]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

[Jethro]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Just hoping the shooter was a disgruntled Republican, else it will be a democrat conspiracy to kill them all

[Niegs]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Here's me with the completely naive hope that this is his 'Ebeneezer Scrooge' moment and he becomes a gent henceforth, healing America with peace and love.

... or that (despite the fist pumping photo) that he's scared shitless and drops out.

[Jethro]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Here's me with the completely naive hope that this is his 'Ebeneezer Scrooge' moment and he becomes a gent henceforth, healing America with peace and love.

... or that (despite the fist pumping photo) that he's scared shitless and drops out.

Thank god for his diapers, else everyone behind him would be covered in shite

[Niegs]

What a fucked up country... people already cashing in from people who are rallied by it.

[Guy Smiley]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Perhaps sadly inevitable, this is the worst thing that could have happened for those of us wanting to see him crash and burn. His popularity will soar and a lot of those inactive or noncommittal voters will swing in behind him now.

[Gumboot]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Perhaps sadly inevitable, this is the worst thing that could have happened for those of us wanting to see him crash and burn. His popularity will soar and a lot of those inactive or noncommittal voters will swing in behind him now.

Next week's RNC is gonna be a fenzy of hero worship and rabid MAGA hatred. Trump's fundraising will go through the roof...

What a fucked up country... people already cashing in from people who are rallied by it.

Yeah, how'd that work out for the attendees who were killed and wounded. Jesus wept.

[Guy Smiley]

Interesting read...

https://theconversation.com/a-bloodied- ... 20928909-1


Author

Emma Shortis

Adjunct Senior Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University

The shots fired at Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday are being investigated as an assassination attempt of the former president and current Republican presidential nominee.

Assassination attempts on presidents and presidential nominees are littered throughout American history. What happened in Pennsylvania is horrifying, but sadly not surprising.

I’ve been really struck by how many senior political figures in the United States came out after the shooting and said political violence has no place in America. US President Joe Biden said violence of this kind is “unheard of” in the US.

That is pretty astounding. The United States was founded on political violence, and incidents of political violence mark its entire history.

In fact, Biden began his political career framing himself as the political heir to the murdered Kennedy brothers – President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1968.

However, for this incident to occur in this moment, given the volatile nature of the presidential campaign so far and the deep divisions in the United States, is deeply concerning.

The way the shooting has been weaponised on social media so quickly – with conspiracy theories unfolding in real time – means the potential for this kind of violence to escalate is very high.

You only have to look at the insurrection of the US Capitol on January 6 2021 to see how quickly political violence can explode in the US.

This is due, at least in part, to the way violent rhetoric has been cultivated quite deliberately by elements of the far right in recent years. In particular, undercurrents of political violence have simmered at Trump rallies since the beginning of his first run for the presidency in 2016.

The threat of violence has become central to Trump’s political image, to his appeal and to his supporter base. You only have to watch a few moments of every Trump rally and every Trump speech to hear him speak about violence, often in graphic detail and with great relish.

For instance, he has repeatedly referenced conspiracy theories when describing the attack against former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, in their home in 2022, as well as mocking him and joking about the attack.

This is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump campaign and the movement behind him.

And it has a real-world impact. A nationwide review conducted by ABC News (the US media organisation) in 2020 identified 54 criminal cases in which Trump himself had been invoked in “direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence or allegations of assault”.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Kevin Roberts, the president of the right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation (the architect of the Project 2025 plan to overhaul the US government under a second Trump presidency), talked about a “second American Revolution” that would “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

Given how ever-present this threat of violence has become, it’s perhaps more surprising that an incident of this magnitude doesn’t happen more often, or hasn’t happened already.

A campaign-defining image

It’s also striking what a master of the political image Trump is. You can see this in the footage of the shooting in Pennsylvania: after Trump stands up, he raises his fist defiantly to have that image captured.

That image is of course going to define this moment, if not Trump’s entire presidential campaign.

There have been a series of tipping points in this campaign so far, and this may well be the decisive one. It could turn Trump from a martyr to a saint in the eyes of his supporters.

Watching how Trump, his campaign and the people around him use this narrative will be so important, especially in advance of the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to start in Wisconsin in the coming days.
Former President Donald Trump is rushed off stage by secret service after an incident during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. David Maxwell/EPA

You can already see elements on the right – particularly among Trump’s supporters – attempting to use the assassination attempt to foster conspiracy theories as a rallying point for the former president.

Given the fall-out from Biden’s debate performance in recent weeks, a contrasting image of the two candidates is also emerging and could solidify further – even if it doesn’t reflect them accurately.

That image of Trump, bloodied with a raised fist, could certainly come to frame his entire campaign and rally support behind him.

It is entirely possible, then, that this becomes the moment when Trump won the election.

[Niegs]

One I thought of despite all the Presidential assassinations there have been even since the 1800s, was that of candidate Huey Long in 1935. I thought he was a bit 'Trumpian' but seems he was more of a left-wing populist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long

[Guy Smiley]

Memelords are having a field day...

[mat the expat]

The race is a done deal.

He's in now

[Slick]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Here's me with the completely naive hope that this is his 'Ebeneezer Scrooge' moment and he becomes a gent henceforth, healing America with peace and love.

... or that (despite the fist pumping photo) that he's scared shitless and drops out.

My first thoughts as well.

Obviously two ways it can go, he either, quite understandably to be fair, shits it and puts someone else up whilst still pulling the strings, or wins this now at a canter.

I see the first one more likely.

I have to say, for all the times I’ve said I wish he would just fucking drop dead, having seen the footage I guess my my more human reaction is I’m glad he’s OK. Although I do wish he would now fuck off into obscurity

[Slick]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

Perhaps sadly inevitable, this is the worst thing that could have happened for those of us wanting to see him crash and burn. His popularity will soar and a lot of those inactive or noncommittal voters will swing in behind him now.

Next week's RNC is gonna be a fenzy of hero worship and rabid MAGA hatred. Trump's fundraising will go through the roof...

What a fucked up country... people already cashing in from people who are rallied by it.

Yeah, how'd that work out for the attendees who were killed and wounded. Jesus wept.

I see Eric has already been using it on Twitter

[Torquemada 1420]

Defo over now. Trump's camp will milk this for all the macho, US v the world (bad guys) mentality that is ingrained in the mindset of Americans. Versus geriatric, dementia sufferer Biden who can barely walk up a flight of stairs.....

[Guy Smiley]

Versus geriatric, dementia sufferer Biden who can barely walk up a flight of stairs.....

While I agree with the gist of your first sentence, I think it's worth noting that not only has Trump struggled with walking down a ramp or even just taking a simple drink from a water bottle, he has also exhibited signs of cognitive decline that include complete lapses...

he is only one slip, trip or fall away from being the same geriatric dementia sufferer and he's just experienced a major cognitive shock.

[tabascoboy]

Law enforcement authorities have identified the man who made an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The FBI said the shooter, who is dead, was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. A motive was not clear.

The gunman was immediately “neutralized” by the Secret Service, chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi said.

Bethel Park is a predominantly white, relatively well-to-do city in the southern reaches of greater Pittsburgh. The site of the rally, Butler, is about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania voter records listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican, though it was not clear from the records when that was put in place.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politi ... rcna161757

[Calculon]

Defo over now. Trump's camp will milk this for all the macho, US v the world (bad guys) mentality that is ingrained in the mindset of Americans. Versus geriatric, dementia sufferer Biden who can barely walk up a flight of stairs.....

No one knows how this is going to play out. Trump might well get a bump in the polls but is that going to last till November, a lot of things can happen before then, including even Biden dropping out of the race. Politics is highly polarized in the States so will be interesting to see what bump Trump actually gets.

[Oxbow]

One has to ask how the shooter managed to miss, he's bright orange and f'king huge, you couldn't get an easier target.

[geordie_6]

He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth and lean into every conspiracy theory that’s beneficial to him isn’t he?

It needed to either not happen at all, it be successful, because it's just made the son of a bitch look presidential with some of the imagery.

Not only if he going to milk this for all he can, but there's enough MAGA fruit loops that might want to make it open season on Biden...

[epwc]

Fuck, if it’s a Mexican or a Muslim who knows what’ll happen. He’s definitely president again, beyond fucking ridiculous

[Guy Smiley]

Fuck, if it’s a Mexican or a Muslim who knows what’ll happen. He’s definitely president again, beyond fucking ridiculous

It was a young white male, registered Republican voter wearing a t shirt promoting a popular gun website.