Donald Trump made a hero’s return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the July 13 attempt on his life. In what has been widely lauded as an ingenious rhetorical ploy, he started his speech on Saturday by connecting his appearance with the July shooting: “As I was saying….” Trump then used his remarks to stoke the flames of political division that threaten this nation — and his life a few short weeks ago.
This is all in keeping with what Trump has said and done many times, including after a second failed assassination attempt. “When former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in July, he made an initial pitch for unity. It didn't last long,” ABC News notes. “And he's taken a decidedly different tack after a second apparent assassination attempt…at his Florida golf club.”
Trump and his cronies are trying to turn tragedy into political capital and stoke the flames of political division, all the while saying that it is the Democrats who need to take responsibility for their overheated rhetoric.
“Less than 24 hours later,” ABC News continues, “Trump laid blame for the political violence on Democrats, telling Fox News Digital the rhetoric of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was ‘causing me to be shot at,’ while also asserting they are "destroying the country — both from the inside and out."
His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance joined in this dangerous blame game. "I think,” Vance said in the aftermath of the second assassination attempt, “it's time to say to the Democrats, to the media, to everybody that has been attacking this man and trying to censor this man for going on 10 years, cut it out or you're going to get somebody killed.”
The Republican ticket returned to this insidious and unfounded accusation at the........