ON July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. Former President Donald Trump, 78, was shot in the ear in an attempted assassination during a campaign rally on Saturday. He just started his speech when the shot rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand then brought his hands down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service Agents covered him. Luckily, he survives the assassination. Two were killed, including the shooter, by the name of Thomas Matthews Crooks, 20, a civilian, and two were critically injured.
When I heard about this issue. Many things have been popping into my mind about security measures for every politician, not just in the Philippines or the USA but in every part of the world. So, this is an attack that will likely reshape this year’s U.S. presidential race while raising pointed issues about the security provided to the Republican candidate.
When I was talking to American friends from the US, debate was a thing. It's like having a conversation with several people with different ideas about current issues, especially politics and religion. Now, that the Trump issue has gone viral and shocked political leaders around the world, people have mixed reactions to his attempted assassination. It is a rollercoaster ride indeed. Two parties from the US buttheads, Republicans and Democrats, pointing fingers against each other, which is which, and who is to blame. Come to think of it, not all Republicans like Trump as one conspiracy theorist claimed. It could be the shooter, being a Republican, hated Trump. I mean, who knows what is been running through the shooter's head while aiming at Trump? So, it got me thinking of a theory as to what could connect to this current issue while it is still fresh from the oven.
So, I thought I could use this theory called Social Conflict related to the attempted assassination of Trump. What is Social Conflict? As you probably thought it is because not all people are familiar with this theory. Social conflict is the struggle for agency or power in society. It occurs when two or more people oppose each other in social interaction, and each exerts social power with reciprocity to achieve incompatible goals but prevent the other from attaining their own. The likelihood of assassination, includes, environmental restrictions and traditional culture predicting leader assassination through social conflict. Social conflict-related political assassinations of targeting and killing of political figures or leaders due to deep-seated social tensions, ideological differences, or power struggles within a society. Such assassinations can have profound consequences, exacerbating societal divisions, sparking further violence, and destabilizing governments or entire regions. These deeds are frequently carried out to influence political outcomes, intimidate populations, or advance specific agendas. These stunning instances of political violence can have distressing psychological effects, not only on those who witness them in person but also on the millions of people exposed to such events through online images, videos, and social media.
While it’s almost impossible to trace any given threat or act of violence to a specific politician’s rhetoric — and copyist assassins often strike for reasons that have nothing to do with politics we can feel in our bones the growing tensions in the US, even we are not in there and we know that overheated political rhetoric is playing its part in turning every one of us against one another, it could happen in the US and can happen to every politics in all over the world. After all, if enough people believe that an election was stolen, for example, or maybe democracy is dying, some probability that those people may take matters into their own hands.
Imagine, the reality is like a math problem: Hateful rhetoric plus widespread dissemination eventually equals violence. Think about it, for example, if 10 people hate you, then the chances that any one of them would try to hurt you is low. But what if 100,000 people hate you? Or 100 million, whether it is your fellow men or people overseas?
Before he became president, Mr. Donald Trump was one of the most celebrated and iconic celebrities in the world. His achievements were well-known and applauded. From real estate across the globe and his philanthropy, Trump won awards from just about every group you can imagine and even landed in the Gaming Hall of Fame and WWE Hall of Fame. On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States until his term on January 20, 2021. Come to think of Trump’s history of pettiness, populism, and mere egocentricity to the extent with a constant that it appears a fantasy that he might ever alter and place his country over his wants and desires. But this time, an experience that he will never forget… his attempted assassination.
Trump made a huge impact that has shocked the nation, nonetheless of where one drops on the political spectrum. The shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign rally seemed to have nicked his ear and bloodied his face, killed one bystander, and critically injured two people. It’s a turn that changed American history. A brush with death has, at least temporarily, led to a more thoughtful Trump. Commotion is supplanted by a reverence of luck and his demise: “If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain,” he said. “The other way goes right through the skull. … The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one-tenth of 1 percent.” he also said, " I'm not supposed to be here."
And it came amid serious and gradually dangerous social districts in the country.
Also, In his social media post, he wrote, “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
I could notice Trump’s apparent exhaustion and emotion, and I had sympathy for him. If you’ve ever had a near-death experience, you know that it can have dramatic emotional effects. I mean, no one, not even Trump, should have to endure such terror. Stories of near-death experiences decrying sinners and pushing them toward the light are a thing of legend. But they are also the thing of actual, ordinary beings — of people who create a mindful choice to turn away from the past and restructure their stories toward a decent end.
What makes me wonder, as an individual, is what will he choose to do with his? Not known for speaking about the godly with sincerity. The Trump family is feeling “spiritual, in a way."
A change of Trump’s heart would not imply he would pursue policies that Democrats like. He is still the candidate of the Republican Party. But it could mean that he campaigns and then governs — in the now more likely event that he wins — in a less authoritarian manner. It could mean that when illustrated with a chance to escalate uncertainties, he might choose instead to tamp them down. As it happens, this would also be in his self-interest, a way to redeem his tarnished legacy.
If this sounds like a fantasy, maybe it is. But fantasies sometimes come true. Fortunately for Trump — and perhaps for us — God works in mysterious ways.
