A number of prominent MAGA Republicans blamed Biden for the shooting at yesterday's Trump rally in Pa. The accusatory statements started being issued even before there was any reporting on the shooter, or his possible motives. Among well known Trump allies who quickly stated that Biden bears responsibility for the shootings are Lauren Boebert, Rep. Mike Collins, Senator Tim Scott, top Trump campaign advisor, Chris LaCivita, VP hopeful, JD Vance, and others.
At the same time, many who witnessed the event at the rally spontaneously spewed similar accusations to members of the media including photographers and journalists who were covering the rally. WaPo writes:
As people passed the press risers elevating the cameras, some took out their anger on the media.
“You’re not safe. It’s your fault.”
“You wanted political violence, now you got it. Hope you’re all f---ing happy.”
“The shot heard ’round the world.”
“The liberal media is responsible!”
“Every f---ing one of y’all!”
Trump was apparently hit by a bullet that grazed his ear, and was quickly rushed to the ground and surrounded by security. As they stood him up to rush him out, Trump, according to WaPo and other accounts, said, "Wait," and defiantly raised up his fist, with blood dripping on his face, turned to the crowd and said, "Fight. Fight." Loud chants came back at him from the crowd, "USA, USA!," as Trump was protectively shuffled offstage by security personnel. The photographs of Trump's defiant pose raising his arm with clenched fist and bloody face are likely to become iconic, according to presidential historian, Douglas Brinkely. He said,
There’s something in the American spirit that likes seeing fortitude and courage under pressure and the fact that Trump held his fist up high will become a new symbol... By surviving an attempted assassination, you become a martyr, because you get a groundswell of public sympathy.
Lauren Boebert took to a local Denver news program, directly blaming Biden. Citing language he used earlier in the week stating that it was "time to move on from the debate discussion and put Donald Trump into a bulls-eye," she said he was directly responsible.
Rep. Mike Collins went even further, writing on X, "Joe Biden sent the orders."
Top Trump advisor, Chris LaCivita, also took to X, writing, " “[W]ell of course they tried to keep him off the ballot, they tried to put him in jail and now you see this …”
JD Vance and Morgan Taylor Greene -- who will be featured speakers at this week's RNC in Milwauki, both chimed in as reported here:
“Today is not just some isolated incident,” Vance wrote on X. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
“Democrats wanted this to happen,” Greene posted on X. “They’ve wanted Trump gone for years and they’re prepared to do anything to make that happen.”
She continued, calling out members of Congress who she wrote “cosponsored legislation to TERMINATE Trump’s Secret Service protection. Why would they want that? You know the reason.”
Written before it was confirmed that an audience member was killed, she continued, “Others may have been killed — innocent people that were there supporting President Trump and all they wanted was to Make America Great Again and they may have been murdered for it. Thank GOD Secret Service was there for Trump and everyone else at today’s rally.”
These are just a few of the better known Republicans who immediately accused Biden before the name of the shooter was even known to the public, much less his motives. Several Republicans said that Democrats want a "Civil War." While many said they will get their revenge "at the ballot " in November, there can be little doubt that this medley of incendiary accusations of Biden and Democrats more generally (with some accusations being as vague as blaming "left wing rhetoric") will do much to fire up the already gun-obsessed extremists among the MAGA crowd who take their cues from the Boeberts and JD Vances of the world. This is a very dangerous and volatile situation. It is not clear just how it can be safely and peacefully navigated in this explosive election cycle. Much will also depend on how Trump frames the events going forward.
One thing I'm sure we'll see a lot more of during the campaign is photos and video footage of Trump's "iconic" and defiant pose and exhortations to "Fight, Fight" We are now closer, in my judgment, to civil war than at any time since the 1860s.
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