Republicans elevate Trump to ‘living martyr’ status after shooting

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On Saturday night in London, word came through that something dramatic was happening at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

I was with my wife in our kitchen watching the local news when I got an alert on my phone and we immediately switched to national news. OK, we are watching live. at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where former President Trump was speaking on the stage. There has been some kind of disturbance that clearly sets law enforcement and Secret Service into motion. And we're astounded by what we were watching, a scene of complete chaos.

And you've been a longtime observer of politics. And I know, going right back to the 60s, this would have brought back some sharp memories for you.

Having been a senior advisor to President Clinton on the White House staff, I worked closely with the Secret Service and had conversations with the head of the detail of the president and about the dangers to a president. And Trump, of course, is a candidate and a former president. But I do recall where I was when I heard the news as a boy in school that John F. Kennedy had been murdered.

From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official. President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time, 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.

I remember where I was when Lee Harvey Oswald had shot Jack Ruby. a few days later. I was out in front of my house playing football with my friends. My mother called me in. I remember where I was sitting alone watching Robert F.

I mean, because what you're describing there are moments where political violence has intruded into American life. When we consider what's happened this weekend, do we need to think that political violence is right back at the center of American life?

It certainly is. And it's different than it was. There had not been, with President Kennedy's assassination, an act of political violence domestically for a long time in the United States. And then for a while there wasn't. And it was a very peaceful period until 1968, although, you know, it was a period of great turmoil with the civil rights movement, the anti-war demonstrations and so on.

And do you think that that will be part of the debate in the coming days, the debate about gun control? Because, you know, there are so often mass shootings with more casualties. And of course, we remember in this case that someone was killed. There are people critically injured. We can't speculate about the shooter's motives.

It's a constant subject for parents in America, who are always worried about their children going to school. When I was growing up, we actually had drills to cover ourselves in the hallways in preparation for a nuclear attack. But now every child actually prepares for a mass shooting, for a crazy shooter to come in. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, this will not be in the forefront. But it will be soon raised.

There's a whole lot of shock and distress at just the idea of a frontline politician, a former president, a candidate, being the victim of what looks like an attempted assassination. But questions in this first phase have centered particularly on the role of the Secret Service and how it could be that somebody with a weapon could be on a roof with, it seems, a pretty clear line of sight to a former president. Where's that going to go, do you think?

Well, there'll be an investigation and the perimeter around candidates will expand, as it should, and that's where that's going to go. The problem is, is that characters like this disturbed young man who shot are not unusual. That's not going to stop that, unless you have gun control.

So inevitably, an event like this, even when people are very mindful of the person who was killed, those others who were injured, and indeed the former president himself having suffered an injury, people will talk about the politics of this. It's already happening. Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump, posting on X a message with the photograph, what is now, I think, going to be an iconic photograph saying, this is the fighter America needs. We're just hours away from the Republicans gathering for the Republican National Convention. What is the impact of this event on all of that?

The impact of the event is profound. for Republicans. It means that there can be no criticism within the party of Donald Trump, who has become a living martyr. He has survived his crucifixion and is resurrected in the eyes of the Christian nationalists who are at the core of the MAGA base. At the same time, you've got a very coordinated effort by the Republicans to come out and say that all criticism of Donald Trump is the cause of this event.

And after making his initial post, Republican U.

And they are trying to essentially point the fingers at the Democrats for running any campaign or pointing out that Trump is a threat to democracy. The Republicans are trying to blame the Democrats for this atmosphere because of this incident. And it's a case of projection outward. And at the same time, of course, it is the Republican policy that against gun control that allowed this killer to have a gun in his hand. And they don't want to talk about that either.

Several Republican members of Congress have directly blamed President Biden, the Democrats and the media for the assassination attempt. They claim it was the result of overheated rhetoric about Trump and part of a campaign to jeopardize his safety. So, for example, Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins posted, quote, Joe Biden sent the orders.

I'm very struck by that language of living martyrdom and the notion that he is a Christ-like figure who has somehow survived the crucifixion and has been resurrected. Donald Trump, not long before you and I are speaking, Sidney says, posted on his own social media platform, thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will fear, not, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness, capital W. In other words, tapping into some of that very sort of Christian language and imagery, perhaps solidifying a way he was already seen. And people have been posting pictures, which already existed, of Donald Trump, as if with a hand of Jesus on his shoulder.

There was a project of the Smithsonian Institution here in Washington, and it collected material from January 6th, the insurrection of those involved. And it shows images of Christian nationalists at the assault on the Capitol, with pictures of Jesus completely conflated with Trump. And that process now has now been fused through this event.

And you also make this point that the many on the right will say this was a result of criticism of Trump, which they will now brand as incitement. Britain's own Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, and a nationalist populist in the mold of Donald Trump, has written today that Trump's had a narrow miss. It's a miracle. Again, that religious language. I implore the left to think very carefully about how they seek to play politics.

Yeah, the blood, it's the blood of Trump now, isn't it? As though it were the blood of Christ. And so the intensity and fervor will reach the highest level at the Republican convention around Trump. And the Republicans are doing everything they can to try and cast any criticism or political debate about Trump, who is, after all, a convicted felon and has been indicted, and so on. They want all that wiped away, as if the blood of Trump should wash away, and he is now pure as the lamb and the dove.

What about the Democrats? How should they be responding? How should they talk about it? Joe Biden had a conversation with Donald Trump after the shooting, said he was grateful to hear that Trump was safe and doing well, and then condemned all political violence and urged others to do the same, saying the Trump rally should have been able to be conducted peacefully. I'm just wondering, though, about the frame of this election, which, anyway, before this, was about strength versus weakness, and the image of Donald Trump almost wrestling his own Secret Service agents.

There's no question about that. The election at this point, after the debate, obviously Biden appeared old and having lost the plot. And then he's been trying to regain it event after event. And the party has been recalcitrant in unifying behind him and itself has lost the plot, as it were, not understanding that there's no alternative and no process that can replace him if he insists on staying, which he does. So that's where we were when this event took place.

Just on that, and this may be our last question. Before this happened, there was some slow, but momentum building for an effort to push Joe Biden to step aside. What happens to that effort now? People talking about behind the scenes and messages communicated from the people you worked for, perhaps Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama, or Nancy Pelosi, all different big figures in the Democratic Party coming under themselves and pressure to, in turn, pressure Joe Biden. Lots of talk, donors and so on.

Before this event, nothing was going to happen as a result, despite what all the people engaged in it may have thought. And after it, nothing plus will happen. There's no alternative to Biden, who is staying in as president. There is no process. He controls all the delegates.

And putting all these things together, you'd have to say that Donald Trump, bloodied and wounded, has never looked more likely to be re-elected.

He could not have hoped for a situation like that when, a few months ago, it appeared as though he was facing a series of criminal trials that would be conducted throughout the year and be the drama that he would appear in, rather than this shocking, unpredictable and elevating violent event.

Sidney Blumenthal, thanks so much for talking to me. For Politics Weekly, America.

Thanks, Johnny.

That's all from me for now. We will obviously be bringing you all the developments on this story over at TheGuardian.com. The producer is Danielle Stevens and the executive producer today was Maz Ebtehaj. I'm Jonathan Friedland. Thanks, as always, for listening.

This is The Guardian.