FLASH
Shkruar nga Federico Rampini
Republicans will use this attack to remind them that the left has had a shaky and hypocritical attitude to violence: willing to condemn it when it comes from within the ranks of the Trumpian base as was the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021
"Who do you want as president of the United States? A tough guy, or someone who loses points?".
Since yesterday, this is the message that the Republican campaign will be able to repeat endlessly. We'll be reviewing images of the attack frequently between now and November 5th. The sound of gunshots interrupting the rally, Donald Trump's hand covering his wounded ear, escort men rushing to him on the ground. A few minutes later Trump stands up and despite being surrounded by agents dragging him to safety, he has the presence of mind to address his fans and shake a closed fist in defiance.
He has won that challenge for now. I stay with you, I don't leave you, I don't get knocked down, so says his fist closed at the base. That image of a high-spirited leader who pulls himself together and doesn't lose heart will be mercilessly compared to Joe Biden's black night, the infamous debacle, that terrible televised duel on CNN when the president stumbled to finish a sentence, he was confused. , lost the thread of his speech. Which of the two has the clarity and courage needed to lead the world's greatest power? On a pure propaganda level, the attack on the rally in Pennsylvania "ends" the televised duel. Two zero for Trump.
There is no certainty, but yesterday's shock could bring a turning point in this campaign. On the one hand there is a leader in decline, surrounded by his party colleagues, who is the most talked about defection: for days and days Biden has been in the news because we are trying to look into his mind, for understood. if and when he will finally accept the sound advice of friends and allies. On the other side is a man discredited and condemned in court, hated or feared by half of America, but adored by his own: and now fate has offered him what may be called, literally, "judgment by fire". He came out of it with his head held high, always literally.
Now the conspiracy theories, controversies, cross-accusations begin. There is always something wrong with security services when these attacks occur; but omnipotence is not of this world, nor of the Secret Service. There's plenty of material to argue that the American right — including Trump — is largely responsible for the nation's insane proliferation of firearms. But a prime minister was killed (Olaf Palme, 1986) even in peaceful and disarmed Sweden, remember? Not to mention the peaceful and disarmed Japan where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left in the same manner two years ago on July 8, 2022.
In political exploitation, the left will try to dig into the biography of the young attacker. Several sources identified 20-year-old (deceased) Thomas Matthew Crooks as "registered" with the Republican party. But even if the news is confirmed, pay attention to the meaning of that term. In America, at the time of citizenship, or age, or driver's license, anyone who wants to register to vote is required to declare an affiliation: Democrat or Republican or Independent. It has a purely statistical-bureaucratic value, then in the secrecy of the box everyone votes as they wish. Even that "registration" is not equivalent to being a member of a party.
On the right, political exploitation will be of a different kind. Republicans will use this attack to remind them that the left has had a staggered and hypocritical attitude to violence: willing to condemn it when it comes from within the ranks of the Trumpian base as was the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021; ready to justify it when it is "anti-fascist" as in the numerous attacks on institutions and law enforcement agencies that marked the summer of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. But these are partisan controversies designed to warm the hearts of those who are already convinced.
In the hundred days left between now and the vote, perhaps the visual, symbolic comparison between the injured man standing up and showing his clenched fist and old Joe swaying will only matter more./Corriere della Sera
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