Dr Saad bin Teflah Al Ajmi
An assassination attempt was committed to kill the former President of the United States of America Donald Trump two days ago. During a campaign gathering and as Trump was speaking in a quiet suburb of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a gunman shot at Trump injuring his ear, killing another spectator and injuring two more. The gunman was shot and killed by the secret service snipers.
The motives and the details of the assassination attempt are still under investigation. Nevertheless, it was not the first-of-its-kind, and will most certainly not be the last.
Since the 19th century assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the liberator of the slaves and the victor in the American civil war, political assassinations continued periodically in various parts of the United States of America for different reasons and by various motives.
The attempt on the life of Trump happened in a country where buying a gun is easier than buying a packet of cigarettes.
And where verbal political violence has reached and unprecedented level in the land of the free which is considered by many around the globe to be the leader of the free world.
Yet, to put the incident into an objective perspective, it is fair to say that political assassinations are not exclusive to the United States. A quick google search will present a long list of assassination acts in all of western democracies. As for our Arab-world, suffice it to say that the very term “assassinate” stems from the Arabic language: Hashish.
In any case, let us set the political electoral stage for the campaign trail and assess the results and repercussions of the attempt on the life of Trump. One can assess the two main competitors in the race for the White House come next November as follows:
An old frail president who clearly suffers from amnesia and causes huge embarrassments for his Democratic party, the presidency and the whole nation every time he holds a public event.
The latest was during the NATO Summit dedicated to help Ukraine defeat Russia. President Biden introduced the Ukrainian President as president Putin! A couple of hours later, he spoke in a solo press conference in which he referred to his Vice-president Kamala Harris as Donald Trump! He could not stop the war in Gaza that is raging since last October.
Nor could he help make any significant progress for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Hence, more and more democratic voices escalate requesting him to relinquish the presidential ambition.
On the other hand, you have a contender who seems fit, alert, gaining popularity by the day, and is still euphoric over the poor performance of his opponent, Joe Biden, in the first presidential debate last June.
And in spite of the pending 34 felonies’ condemnations, his camp seems to have succeeded in turning all of the charges against him as a plot to disqualify him and knock him out of the race before the time of the ballot box next November.
There is a deep belief amongst Trump’s supporters that there is a “Deep State” conspiracy to eliminate the nomination of their candidate by the “Bullet not by the Ballot”- to use Malcolm X’s moto in an opposite order.
Then came the assassination attempt on Trump last Saturday in Pennsylvania. Trump did not only survive the attack, but he rose unshaken in seconds.
Defiant, waiving his fist, blood dripping on his face, the American flag hovering over his head; he shouted “Fight, Fight, Fight. That image will be engraved in the minds of the voters way after next November. It personifies a “good ole American boy who took a bullet for America”.
Fortunately, the attempt on Trumps life has failed. Tragically, it took the life of an innocent bystander and wounded two more. A few hours later, Trump descended from his private jet in New Jersy seemingly unscathed and tenaciously insistent on going all the way to the ballot box come November.
He arrived in Milwaukee, MN this week to attend the Republican Party’s Conference where he was formally nominated as the Party’s nominee for the presidential elections.
In the Conference, he will be embraced as a hero who defies all “conspiracies” of the “Deep State” including those that tried to assassinate him with bullets.
Yet, the criminal attempt on Trump’s life, had succeeded so far to politically “assassinate” Joe Biden. It had drawn the end-line of his presidential race. It is widely believed that the Democratic Party will substitute Joe Biden before it is too late; or is it too late already?
Dr. Saad bin Teflah Al Ajmi is an academic, writer and former minister of information in Kuwait.
Dr. Saad bin Teflah Al Ajmi is an academic, writer and former minister of information in Kuwait.
