With less than a month to go before the US presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are intensifying their election campaigns which has often lead to mudslinging and hate speeches at an unprecedented level. Of the many bombshell events that unfolded since the start of the 2024 election cycle, the dual assassination attempts against Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump have raised concerns about the current state of American democracy and the impact it will have on th election.
Amid the concerning political polarisation, Trump had been able to gather positive support from the assassination attempts in a deadlocked race. The former president had always tried to cultivate and project a hero-like persona, striving to “Make America Great Again” rooted in hypermasculine and white supremacist values. His clenched fist image, after an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania on 13 July 2024, gained widespread popularity, particularly among young conservative voters due to his defiant gesture that echoed the slogan “bloodied but unbowed.”
Assassination attempts are not new to the US politics. Every presidential assassination and attempt has evoked a deep sense of shock among the general public. It is unclear, given the various polls predicting US election as coming down to the wire, whether Trump has been able to gain enough sympathy votes that would assure his return to the White House. His media coverage and campaign momentum, gained after 13th July, were quickly overshadowed by the Democratic Party’s decision to replace President Joe Biden as their presidential candidate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Yet Trump received overwhelming support and endorsement from the Republican National Convention, which was held two days after the first targeted attack. Multiple reports claim that after the attempts on Trump’s life, there was a surge in donations that significantly mobilised his supporters. The former president had also appealed to his donors in the aftermath of the second assassination attempt in an email that stated: “resolve is only stronger after another attempt on my life,” which drew many criticisms that the assassination attempt was staged for political sympathy.
In a recent poll conducted by ABC News and CBC News, Trump has significantly narrowed Harris’s lead nationally. This shift may be related to the political sympathy he has garnered following multiple assassination attempts, and his efforts to project himself as a saviour figure. Trump’s messaging appears to resonate with both White and Black male voters in the US, suggesting a shift in voter sentiment ahead of the election.
The actual influence of the attempted assassination on Trump’s campaign can only be analysed after the election results. However, the upsetting trend of threats against a presidential candidate, while on an election campaign, constitutes a significant risk to American democracy and democratic processes worldwide.
“Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.