The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that the assassination attempt on former President Trump on Saturday leaves an opportunity for him and his party to call for political unity at the upcoming Republican National Convention.
A would-be assassin shot Trump Saturday while the former president was on stage for a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. The Secret Service rushed him off the stage as photographers snapped startling images of his bleeding ear and Trump raising his fist in the air to show his supporters he was still standing. One rally attendee was killed, and two others were critically injured in the shocking attack.
In its Saturday evening editorial, simply titled, “The Shooting of Donald Trump,” the Wall Street Journal editors argued the “near miss” could be “a redemptive political moment.”
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
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The editors said Trump and the Republicans have an opportunity to help tamp down the political temperature at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They commended Trump for his “fortitude” after being shot on Saturday, and urged him not to make the “mistake” of blaming Democrats for the attempt on his life. Instead, the WSJ encouraged him to call for political unity.
“His opportunity now is to present himself as someone who can rise above the attack on his life and unite the country,” they wrote. “He will make a mistake if he blames Democrats for the assassination attempt.”
“If the Trump campaign is smart, and thinking about the country as well as the election, it will make the theme of Milwaukee a call to political unity and the better angels of American nature,” they later added.
“The shooter alone is responsible for his actions,” the editors wrote. “But leaders on both sides need to stop describing the stakes of the election in apocalyptic terms. Democracy won’t end if one or the other candidate is elected. Fascism is not aborning if Mr. Trump wins, unless you have little faith in American institutions.”
The editorial also said the shooting raised questions about security at the event.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is covered by U.S. Secret Service agents on stage at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Secret Service may have killed the alleged assassin, but the editors say the incident leaves behind some “obvious” questions, including how the alleged assassin could have gained the high ground atop a building near enough to be able to take the shots, especially considering the Secret Service “has had years to know how to protect him at these events.”
“It isn’t enough to say the shooter was outside the security perimeter of metal detectors and bag searches,” The Wall Street Journal editors wrote. “The identity of the shooter, his motivations, and whether he had accomplices may tell us more about how he was able to get in close shooting range.”