The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is deplorable. But… oh yikes, does it mean he will likely be President now? Why is this something we should even worry or care about in little old NZ?
OPINION
I try my very best to avoid it, but every now and then my guard falters and I find myself watching another round of The Bachelor – the US version.
Sometimes, even though I know it can’t possibly be true, what sucks me in is that without fail in the first episode, the host says the exact same thing: that this is the most shocking season of The Bachelor, ever. “You’re not going to believe it folks. Hang on to your hats, because you have never seen anything like this season.”
And yet somehow, often the host is right. Even though they’re up to season 28 (TWENTY EIGHT!), they still manage to think up new horrible situations to put people in and ways to manipulate them (or just ply them with more alcohol and deprive them of more sleep), and yes, as a result, crazier and crazier things keep happening.
But before reality TV had been thought up, back when I was growing up, I somehow started getting hooked on following US elections (I think it was after I got glued to the media spectacle/debacle that was the trial of OJ Simpson). I remember missing going to a friend’s house when I was 14 because I needed to stay home and see if Bill Clinton was going to beat Bob Dole. Then, four years later I thought the George W. Bush versus Al Gore election was the most insane thing I’d seen.
And yet, every four years, as we reflect on the election that came before, they always seem so lovely and quaint in retrospect, because every election has truly become more shocking than the last. (Well, except for maybe the 2012 election of Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney – that one was actually pretty tame and respectful).
Back in 2016 I didn’t think there was a way in which an election could be more shocking that what we witnessed. But then we had 2020. And then, Jesus, here we are again and things are somehow 5000 times worse.
Because this is truly the most effing downright bananas and terrifying season of the US elections, ever.
The attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump is hideous on so many levels. It’s yet another horrible example of gun violence in the States. It’s an abhorrent act and clearly gun violence should have no place in society, and certainly not within the democratic process of electing a leader.
But, it’s also hideous, because…. well. I feel I need to whisper this now but… God. He’s probably going to win now, isn’t he?
History shows us that an assassination attempt can bolster your numbers. When President Ronald Reagan was shot soon after he was elected, he saw a poll boost of eight points. And he didn’t even have a photographer catching him perfectly punching the sky, defiant, as blood ran down his face as he chanted ‘fight’.
Crap.
The Republican Party has already been counting their chickens. When President Biden gave the worst performance of his life at the presidential debate last month, party insiders called it ‘a gift’. They believed that Trump was a shoo-in. And that was before the events of the weekend.
In the last week or so Trump has been teasing his decision of who he will pick as his running mate and join him on the ticket as Vice President. Last week he told the Clay & Buck show that he’d narrowed it down to four or five people and said – read on for another shiver down your spine – about the process of picking his VP: “It’s like a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice”.
Before the rally this weekend, he had speculated that he may make an announcement sometime this week. Now, I imagine that announcement could be even worse that I have imagined.
Back in 2016, Mike Pence joined Trump as VP because they needed someone on the ticket who wasn’t quite as far down the MAGA rabbit hole as Trump. They needed a VP that wasn’t quite as polarising: that people who were undecided about who to vote for, who were feeling a little weary about voting for Trump, could look at and think, ‘ok, well, I guess at least this other guy will be in the room with him while he has access to the nuclear codes’.
Now, with Trump’s team seeing this election as a done deal – there will be less pressure to go with a VP who may be a more palatable or reasonable. As confidence swells, Trump will likely pick a candidate who is full MAGA. Full noise. Full Trump.
But, why does any of this matter? Why should we fret about it? I know plenty of people who are turning away from the news, saying, oh well, poor America, they’re getting what they voted for. Lucky us, that we live so far away. This isn’t our fight. This doesn’t have any effect on us.
Oh, how I wish this were true.
As we’ve already seen here in NZ, when people who have misogynistic or racist or homophobic views see situations like this play out, they feel more emboldened. They feel more emboldened to write those thoughts down on the internet. To say those thoughts out loud. To stand by them. To act on them. To support other people who share those views. To vote those people into power in their own country.
But for now, the reality show continues on. Will things calm down? Will there be more shocking twists and turns? Will this continue to be the most shocking US election of all time? I’m hoping there’s still a twist to come.