Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
July 14, 2024
Less than 48 hours prior to the Republican Party convening in Milwaukee for its quadrennial convention, President Donald Trump suffered a bullet wound to the right ear at the hands of a would be assassin. Trump is recovering and the RNC will open as scheduled on Monday July 15.
The would-be assassin has been appropriately dispatched by the Secret Service. Were it not for the Secret Service’s utter failure to secure the area where Trump spoke on Saturday in the first place, in Butler, PA, the attempt on Trump’s life would not have occurred. Those Secret Service agents physically closest to Trump did their jobs in precision fashion, surrounding the former president within seconds of the initial shots ringing out, and extricating him from further harm.
A defiant Trump, with blood streaming down his right cheek, raised a fist and shouted “fight, fight, fight,” as the Secret Service physically escorted Trump from the scene. As he was ushered into the presidential SUV, Trump once again raised his fist and shouted “fight” yet again. It seemed Trump wanted to continue with his speech at the rally, akin to the October 1912 attempt to assassinate President Theodore Roosevelt in Milwaukee, where he did, in fact, resume his speech with a bullet in his chest.
Ironically, Joe Biden, in his press conference last Thursday evening, said “when you get knocked down, you get back up,” no doubt referring to his miserable debate performance against Trump. And that is exactly what Trump did - after literally getting knocked down, Trump literally rose up, feistily, to the relief of the thousands in attendance that late afternoon. Upon realizing Trump was vertical, and as the Secret Service whisked him away with fist raised, the throng began chanting “USA, USA, USA.”
And while, thank G-d, Trump will live to see more than just another day, the true takeaway from this near-tragedy must be the abject failure of the Secret Service’s advance team. They had the enormous task of ensuring the, as wide as possible, perimeter would be tighter than any drum on the planet. They failed. The shooter, a 20 year old male from Bethel Park, PA, scaled a building, reaching the rooftop roughly 160 yards from Trump’s speaking position - less than two football fields. Has the Secret Service learned nothing from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963? An open air, largely attended, presidential visit.
A number of Trump supporters attending the rally spotted the shooter scaling the building. There is even video footage of ordinary rally attendees discussing seeing the assassin and mentioning it to authorities. Why didn’t the Secret Service witness this as well? One feeble excuse claimed the budget didn’t warrant a further blanketing of the area. Did the Secret Service work with local law enforcement in Butler, PA? A Congressional investigation has already been called for, with both the Director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expected to testify. Biden has also called for the fast-tracking of the attempted assassination investigation. Because of this tremendous failure, and but for the grace of G-d that Trump survived this assassination attempt, both Cheatle and Mayorkas should immediately be relieved of their duties. People, humans, failed in their vital tasks of securing the safety of the President of the United States and heads should roll - firings must take place.
One person not nearly as fortunate as Trump, murdered at the hands of the assassin’s gun while protecting his family, Corey Comperatore, 50, served his community as a former fire chief. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) said, at a press conference Sunday, that the father of two “died a hero" after diving on top of his family. “He dove protecting his family. Took a bullet for them," Shapiro said. “We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night ... I just spoke to Corey's wife and his two daughters. Corey was a girl-dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. Corey loved his family. He was an avid supporter of the former president and so excited to be there last night with him in the community," Shapiro said, as reported on www.newsweek.com. May his memory be for a blessing. Two other rally attendees are recovering from gunshot wounds at the hands of the assassin.
Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin (R) called for flags to be flown at half mast in the Commonwealth of Virginia in memory of the Pennsylvanian, Comperatore.
No one, not Comperatore, not a person attending a Trump rally, a Biden rally, or any other political rally, should have to wonder if they will return home later that night. Americans have attended such rallies for more than two centuries in this country. This should not be a political issue either. No member of the body politic either, should ever be in this amount of danger - literally inches from death - no one.
Biden called for the lowering of the temperature regarding the vitriol that has been free flowing from both sides of the aisle, but most particularly from the Democrats. This must include the hyperbolic rhetoric by elected Democrats and members of the so-called mainstream media calling Trump Hitler and a Nazi. Is Donald Trump responsible for the deaths of more than 11 million people, at least six million of whom were Jewish? Is Donald Trump going to bring the American government and democracy to its knees, as his opponents say? First of all, they should remember this country is a Constitutional Republic. Biden himself, egregiously put forth his own raising of the temperature against Trump, most recently declaring “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” and “he’s a threat to this nation.”
It has been Democrat invective that is the cause of such violence. It is the team currently occupying the White House that is the genuine threat to the stability of the government and the security of the nation. The Democrat Party thwarted all efforts to hold primaries, disenfranchising their own party loyalists from having a say in who their nominee should be. They rigged the system in 2020 to ensure Biden became the nominee. Biden and his Democrats have systematically controlled the so-called legacy media. This is reason number one why there was such shock following Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27. Biden and his Democrats on the bench have also turned this government into a banana republic by weaponizing the Justice Department and imprisoning political opponents. The Biden administration continues its open border policy that has already seen more than 10 million illegal aliens enter the United States on his watch - that is damaging this country. Just last week 198 Congressional Democrats voted against a bill that will prevent those very illegals and all non-citizens from voting in American elections. If a member of the elected class in the United States believes non-citizens should possess the franchise, those members should either be impeached or recalled at once.
To borrow from the 1980 Reagan campaign, “the time is now,” for a return to being America first, not America last. The time is now to support policies that will return America to its former prominence. The time is now for America to support jobs for Americans, putting its veterans above illegal aliens. The time is now for America to stand with its allies like Israel and Hong Kong, and send a message to its foes that their shenanigans in the US, such as buying up American farm land abutting military bases will no longer be tolerated. The time is now to make America, American again. Following the undoubtedly humbling, turn to G-d moment Trump experienced on Saturday, he will be the person the nation needs him to be, at a time when he is most needed.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He remembers the assassination attempt on President Reagan as a cold, rainy, Monday March 30, 1981 as he left school that afternoon. Until the last minute, the playing of the NCAA basketball championship was in doubt.
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