I’ve always regarded Donald Trump as vulgar, odious and unworthy of public office. Two million people signed a petition opposing his state visit here in 2018, and the Mayor of London agreed that a 20 foot high balloon depicting him as a podgy, permanent-tanned baby could be flown over Parliament. The prospect of his return to the White House makes me shudder, and I’m baffled that one of the most vibrant democracies in the world can’t seem to stop him.
But loading a high calibre round into a long range rifle and firing it from a rooftop overlooking one of his campaign rallies is not the answer. For the bullet to graze his ear shows how close this was to the most lethal shot possible — smack into the brain. A tilt of the head, the tiniest of movements by a very big man, looks like it saved him.
We will never know what exactly motivated the would-be assassin. But we can safely assume he did not want Donald Trump back in the Oval Office, and so his failure was spectacular. Not only is the former President still alive, but he’s arguably better placed than ever.
Most of us who laughed at the baby blimp in London will have been horrified by the shooting on Saturday — six years to the day he was in our city. However gross this burlesque politician, he did not deserve to be killed. We’ve all had a sobering shot of perspective — a reminder that even in the most loud, bitter and polarised of electoral battles we are all playing by a critical set of rules that reflect a shared sense of what always matters most to those of us fortunate enough to live in a democracy.
The red lines that separate government and opposition in the House of Commons are thirteen feet apart because that is the length of two swords and the idea of putting opposing parties in the chamber was that they would resolve their differences through debate not battle.
Having pushed the limits of the US system to the brink and beyond, Donald Trump is now clearly in the democratic corner, compared to the young man who tried to take him out. He also looks like a winner, irrepressible, unbeatable and very lucky. Whether we like it or not, voters are drawn towards such people. No-one wants a loser at the helm.
The shooting, of course, follows a whole string of legal battles designed, above all, to ensure Donald Trump’s name is not on the ballot paper this November. I feel for his victims, and I understand the noble motives for pursuing him through the courts, but every twist and turn so far seems to have made him stronger, turbo charging the narrative that the system is out to get him because he’s on the side of those let down by that system.
So it is time for our American friends to get real — at long last, and realise that there is only one way to stop Donald Trump being President again, which is to confront him with the best possible candidate and the most compelling case to beat him at the ballot box.
Not only are they not doing this but Joe Biden’s recent performances have presented his opponent with a wide open goal. Confusing Presidents Putin and Zelensky was painful. Describing Donald Trump as his vice president was pathetic and it’s hard to believe that even his closest friends believe Joe Biden is now truly equipped for arguably the most demanding job in the world.
So the killer blow is the contrast. In the moment of maximum surprise, confusion and trauma, with blood on his cheeks and the secret service bundling him off the stage, Donald Trump hit the bullseye, instinctive, focused and composed enough to know that what was needed most was a signal of strength and defiance. Up went the fist, unleashing an iconic image that will stick with all of us, and reverberate loudly through polling day, a survivor, fighter, statesman capturing the moment. Sooner or later, the bullet fired at Trump will now, surely, deliver the coupe de grace for Biden.
