You aren't helping anyone.
This is a sensitive and important issue, and I want to emphasize the seriousness of the rising problem of conspiracy theories. Yesterday, on July 13th, there was an attempted assassination of former President Trump, resulting in the death of a spectator, injuries to others, and Trump being left with a bloody ear. Despite the numerous discussions that could stem from this event, I want to draw attention to the growing concern about conspiracy theories and political violence.
Political violence
The first to address is political violence. I can't imagine what good could have been envisaged from this situation. Countless people online have been raving about how bad the situation is because the shooter missed. Memes, quote tweets, and replies have been flooding the ether, making jokes and discussing how the outcome should have been different.
I'm not going to pretend that political violence is inherently evil. Those who subscribe to this assertion either have too much emotional attachment to speak logically or are simply blind to the world of political abhorrence. Let me hold up glasses for the latter. I cannot imagine anyone complaining about a violent protest against a totalitarian regime in 30s and 40s Europe. What about, for instance, the killing of Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden? More people now than ever in the crisis’s existence support the Palestinian liberation, and a strong percentage of those supporters support Hamas, a known terrorist group for its political violence. To be clear, I am not prescribing support for any of these examples; more plainly, I’m attempting to draw out the contradictions enforced by supporting the narrative that political violence is always wrong.
“But how is President Trump comparable to that of terrorists?” Perhaps he isn't, but there is certainly a debate to be had here. Ask the families affected by the increased acts of hate crime under his presidential rhetoric and travel bans. If that doesn’t work, look into the riot in Charlottesville, project 2025, denial of climate change and contemporary science, and January 6, and surely you will come to one side or the other. The purpose of bringing this up is not to defend what happened yesterday in fact the next section will be a direct declaration against it, but the narrative currently being slung, demanding that all political violence be seen as contemptuous, does not hold up to any scrutiny.
Conspiracy thinking & ridiculous notions
How can the left be seen as more logically grounded than the right if the first thing being said following a failed presidential assassination was that it was staged? Is this not the same thinking that leads people to believe vaccines cause autism and heart failure? Did conservatives not come out after January 6, claiming it was actually Antifa and BLM that rushed the Capitol? Was it not Trump himself that led to the psychotic babbling of these conspiracies and many more? How can the left claim to be any better if this is where we end up?
Let's walk through this: The shooter has now been confirmed to be a registered Republican, who seemingly, after the attack on the capital in 2021, decided to support the progressive cause with a small donation. Implementing the handy razor of Occam its hard to see why an attempted assassination on the former president is at all surprising.
There are two roads we can take with this conspiracy thinking. One, the shooter was a psy-op from Biden or the Democratic deep state, or two, trump incited this himself to garner more support. Neither, of course, makes sense.
It is evident that the attack on Trump only served to bolster his supporters. Many of my personal friends have voiced their support for Trump, applauding his survival and criticizing the liberals for attacking a political opponent. If we consider for a moment that the assassination attempt had been successful, it would not have been advantageous for Democrats. While the Trump issue would be eliminated, they would then have to contend with a more competent Republican candidate. The Republican voter base would likely be more motivated than ever, and the liberals would be portrayed as ruthless criminals. There is no positive outcome for the liberals in orchestrating such an attempt.
From Trump's end, it makes even less sense. Sure, Trump looks pretty heroic right now, but think about how risky of a move this is. The bullet hits three inches to the right, and there goes their candidate. Also, since the debate, trump has been polling much better than Biden, including in 7 key swing states; why would they take such a risk? Especially from a 20-year-old Republican. If the truth came out, it would destroy his campaign (Although it seems like MAGA Americans will be swayed by nothing at this point). Imagine it came out that Trump had several people injured and a father of two killed for some bonus points.
Furthermore, as Christopher Hitchens eloquently put it, “what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” There is no evidence of a conspiracy here; therefore, without new information arising, we are only justified in the most simple answer: Thomas Crooks acted alone.
The country is clearly heading in a dangerous direction. The left has legitimate concerns about the possibility of a second Donald Trump term. When we consider Project 2025, Trump's rhetoric, and the events of J6, it becomes evident that Donald Trump does not support democracy
Democrats should not stoop to condoning or excusing attempted murder. We have a democracy for a reason. In both elections that Trump has been in, he has lost the popular vote. The key to victory is mobilizing Democratic voters in swing states, and the path to doing so may not include the Biden administration. Making claims of conspiracies is not only flawed logic but also does not help anyone.