US election 2024: Donald Trump assassination attempt surely helps him seal victory | Express Comment | Comment

Saturday night marked a deeply sad moment for the United States.

After years of increasing vitriol and partisan toxicity, the political conversation turned violent. And the US Secret Service will have to answer for the most catastrophic security failure in decades.

Americans are demanding to know how a would-be assassin was able to crawl onto a rooftop vantage point, armed with a rifle, and let off eight shots toward the podium – all in an area that was supposed to have been cleared.

The investigation into how this was allowed to happen is already under way and measures are already being put in place to expand the secure perimeter at the Republican National Convention that begins on Monday.

The FBI, Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security will be examining every detail of this incident.

The Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, has already been summoned to testify before a committee of the US House of Representatives on July 22.

It is important to note that campaigning comes with risks. Candidates and their staffers always want more access to voters, while those charged with protection constantly push for more aggressive restrictions.

Trump loves to host rallies, and this will not stop him but securing the wide expanses of land needed for these events is a huge challenge.

The daunting task before the Secret Service is to find better ways to do their job, all while making the candidate appear approachable and human.

Life within a security bubble is a losing campaign strategy.

We would hope at such a moment that our better angels would prevail, that voices across the spectrum would denounce the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and call for calm and unity.

And that happened. Briefly. Joe Biden condemned the attack and announced a temporary halt to his campaigning.

Former presidents lined up to decry the violence and wish Trump well. Who better than former presidents to understand the stakes?

But others, those who have never held the country’s highest office, failed to rise to the occasion. The partisan sniping quickly resumed.

Trump vice-presidential pick JD Vance blamed Joe Biden, while Democrats blamed Republican opposition to gun control.

This is perhaps to be expected in an election year. Attack ads fill the airwaves. Social media platforms are awash in personal insults. Blustery candidates pound the podium and decry their opponents as evil and immoral.

Each side blames the other for the conversation turning ugly. This is how the game is played now, and this election was shaping up to be a tough one.

Two very different men with very different views of the world will spend the next four months battling for every vote.

And that is a key reason that Saturday’s attack may prove so significant. The contrast over the past two weeks could not have been more stark.

Donald Trump, blood streaking down his face, fist raised in defiance, urging his cheering supporters to keep up the fight as the Secret Service pushes him to an armored vehicle just seconds after a failed attempt on his life.

Joe Biden, standing at the podium on a lifeless debate stage, mouth agape, losing his train of thought, mumbling to the cameras, trying desperately to recover the vitality that sadly left him years ago.

It’s hard not to see how, through the cynical lens of political blood sport, this helps Trump, and perhaps seals his victory.

He could still blow it, with his propensity to lie, say outrageous things and alienate large swaths of the electorate. But time is running short.

The world had best prepare for President Trump’s second coming.

Charley Cooper is a political adviser and former Pentagon official