Regarding Donald Trump’s Brush with Death

Nearly a week has passed since Donald Trump was injured in an apparent assassination attempt. Given that the shooter was killed shortly after injuring Trump and several others, and killing one, we may never fully know what drove him to such a terrible deed. (Although some evidence suggests that he wasn’t driven by any specific animus towards Trump.) In the meantime, controversy abounds concerning the Secret Service’s actions (and inaction), conspiracy theories are swirling, and there have been widespread calls to tone down the rhetoric surrounding this year’s election.

It’s tempting to immediately broadcast one’s thoughts about anything and everything these days, and indeed, I went back and forth on whether to write anything concerning the shooting and its fallout. Even as I write this, I realize it might be foolish, but writing is how I process things. So, given that Trump is now officially the Republican presidential candidate, here we go.

First, I’m glad Donald Trump wasn’t killed or more seriously injured. I shouldn’t have to say this, but it might come as a shock to some readers given my criticism of the man. But senseless violence like last Saturday’s should always be abhorred, especially when committed for political purposes. Not only is that wicked and immoral, but it’s antithetical to a crucial building block of American democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.

Second, Donald Trump is a deceitful, cruel, and narcissistic strongman wannabe who should not be let anywhere near the Oval Office. Have we forgotten the tens of thousands of falsehoods that he uttered just while president? Have we forgotten how he uses his position and power to benefit himself? Have we forgotten how casually he flouts the law, as if it should never apply to him? Have we forgotten the women that he’s abused and raped? And though he was certainly a victim of violence, have we forgotten how violence-prone Trump himself has been in the past?

Remember when he bragged that he could murder someone in broad daylight and still get elected? Or when he theorized about shooting demonstrators who were protesting George Floyd’s death? Or when he encouraged his supporters to beat people up? Or when he sought to undermine the peaceful transfer of power after losing the 2020 election by riling up his supporters, refusing to stop the riot, and spreading lies and misinformation about the election results? The list goes on and on and on…

I do not want Trump dead; I want him brought to justice and held accountable.

Third, the Republican Party is remaking itself in Donald Trump’s image, and in the process, losing its soul. The Dispatch, one of the few sane voices on the Right, said it well in a recent newsletter (emphasis mine):

Conservatives in the party of Reagan often spoke of a three-legged stool of social conservatism, fiscal conservatism, and a hawkish foreign policy. But on Monday night, social conservatives in Trump’s party were expected to stomach a prime-time speaking appearance of internet personality Amber Rose, who has publicly praised “satanists” because they help women “get abortions in southern states” and publicly explained she tells her young children that her OnlyFans page is a positive thing. Fiscal conservatives were treated to a prime-time speech by Teamsters union President Sean O’Brien, who demagogically denounced big business: “Elites have no party, elites have no nation. Their loyalty is to the balance sheet and the stock price at the expense of the American worker.” And hawks were told by billionaire David Sacks that Vladimir Putin was “provoked, yes provoked” to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by President Biden’s talk of expanding NATO.

The motive for welcoming these disparate voices at the 2024 Republican convention is not primarily ideological, of course. A willingness to fulsomely praise and help Trump — even after January 6, 2021 — is the most important credential for any person to attain a position of prominence in the Republican party in 2024. That’s the reason why Vance was immediately to the left of Trump on Monday night and why Tucker Carlson was sitting two seats to his right.

The slow erosion of the GOP’s long-standing opposition to abortion — and of its social conservatism as a whole — bas been particularly confusing and surreal for me. During the Clinton presidency, I heard plenty of talk concerning both the evils of abortion and the necessity of political leaders to behave morally and ethically. But now, under Trump, that’s all being dismantled and tossed aside with nary a complaint, criticism, or concern expressed by the GOP mainstream. Trump gets what Trump wants, end of story. Anything else is tantamount to treason or, perhaps more accurately given the cult of personality surrounding Trump, heresy.

I haven’t considered myself a political conservative for many years. Even so, it’s disheartening to watch the political movement in which I grew up get remade in the image of a convicted felon and rapist who fails to embody those principles to a stunning degree. (To that end, I still think Alan Noble did the best job of anyone in communicating that particular form of disappointment felt by Christians who saw their religious leaders not just hold their noses but gladly ally themselves with Trump in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape.)

For most folks, a brush with death leads to some serious evaluation of their life’s direction. Am I doing what I want to be doing? Am I doing what I should be doing? Am I being the sort of person that my family, friends, co-workers, and community need? Am I living a life that promotes flourishing in the lives around me, or am I living selfishly and for myself?

Has Trump experienced any such circumspection in the days following the shooting? I hope so, but I have my doubts. This is, after all, a man with a history of holding grievances, bearing grudges, and looking out for himself. Thus, I had little hope that Trump’s experience would be a “come to Jesus” moment that caused him to drop out, much less fess up and accept the consequences of his previous actions.

Instead, if Trump’s acceptance speech is any indication, he’s only grown more emboldened, as have his followers. For example, Trump called for unity, saying that dissent shouldn’t be criminalized or political disagreement be demonized. In his very next breath, however, he criticized Democrats for “weaponizing the Justice System” and labeling him “an enemy of democracy” — implying that his calls for unity are, like so much else, for his benefit. (Again, The Dispatch highlights the conflicted nature of Trump’s speech.)

I’m glad Donald Trump is alive, that his family still has their husband, father, and grandfather. Senseless violence solves nothing, but just begets chaos and more violence. But I fear that we’re now about to see an even more motivated Donald Trump who, rather than come clean, will fully seek to realize his strongman fantasies. Brush with death notwithstanding, nothing in his history suggests otherwise.