On Saturday, America marked another low point in the nation’s long history of political violence. Minutes into his rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump was shot at, multiple times, in an apparent attempt on his life. The former US president escaped narrowly. He was visibly bloodied and shaken, yet seen defiantly pumping his fists as he was escorted from his podium. One spectator is confirmed dead, others are critically wounded, while the suspected assassin was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
The event risks taking a country, that in recent years has grown more bitter, polarised, and prone to violence, in an even darker direction. The responsibility of America’s political class to reassert the importance of political calm has never been more important.
Violence has no place in democracy. The undermining of free speech and political tolerance, and the rampant rise of social media disinformation, has been a feature of American politics over the past decade. The partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans has only grown wider and more toxic. This has come alongside a greater willingness to use physical force. Sporadic eruptions of violence over the past four years include the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.