It says something about the times in which we live that a second apparent assassination attempt against a former U.S. president is not the most significant or worrisome political violence trend of the moment.

Indeed, given stakes that call for unflinching honesty, we must acknowledge that the intended target of Sunday’s planned but failed attack is actually the source of a greater threat, one that could produce unprecedented conflict in the weeks before or immediately following the upcoming presidential election on Nov. 5.

There is no disputing that a threat to the life of a political candidate is heinous. We are fortunate that law enforcement authorities spotted accused would-be shooter Ryan Routh before he had a chance to fire a shot at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Routh was apprehended 40 miles north of the golf club at which he had apparently intended to attack Trump. Now in custody, his motives are unclear but it has already been established that he is a man with right-wing leanings, a record of erratic behavior, and past run-ins with the law.

Vice President Kamala Harris responded the first reports of the foiled assassination with an appropriately unequivocal statement. “I will be clear. I condemn political violence. We must all do our part to ensure this incident does not lead to more violence.”

Trump’s response and that of those close to him offered a chilling reminder that he does not take the same view. In an interview on Fox on Monday, Trump accused Harris and current president Joe Biden of being the reason his life was being put at risk. “Their rhetoric,” he said, “is causing me to be shot at when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country.”

Donald Trump attends the 2024 Senior Club Championship award ceremony at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. March 24, 2024.

The inflammatory language from Trump echoed an approach he ultimately took in the wake of the July 13 attack that took place at a political rally in near Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump and others in the MAGA orbit sought at the time to assert that it was President Biden and Democrats who had put him in danger by fueling what House........

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