Lauren Lejeune

As the 2024 Presidential Election draws near, the political board has been strategically filled with its players. Debates have begun, they’re hitting the campaign trails and one candidate has even taken a bullet on the public stage. If you’ve been living under a rock, former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally, leaving one dead and two others injured in the process.

Outrage sparked across the nation, across the world. Questions began to whirl immediately: How was one of the most famous people in the world, let alone a former president of the United States, almost assassinated? As the days passed, little information has come out surrounding the circumstances of that day. But the key takeaways from what we do know is that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old with almost no digital footprint, was able to get on the roof of a building less than 140 yards from Donald Trump. Crooks fired his gun eight times at Trump before being killed by a sniper. Arguably, one of the most mind boggling details is that the Secret Service knew about Crooks being on the roof long before any shots had rang out. 

According to an article written by News Nation, the gunman was labeled a person of interest an hour before the shooting took place. Twenty minutes before he shot, the snipers had spotted him. 

A slight tilt of his head was all that saved Donald Trump from death. The bullet grazed his ear, the president dropping to the ground, covered in Secret Service agents. When Trump finally stood up, he had one message to people watching him: Fight. Fight, as he raised a fist above his head, crimson blood dripping down his face. 

A message to whom is up for personal debate, three contenders being MAGA followers, as Donald Trump fans are sometimes called. To the people attending the rally, most not moving from their spots in the wake of gunfire. Or to the American people as one body.

The crowd begins chanting, roaring loudly the phrase “USA! USA! USA!” in one voice, setting off a wildfire of patriotism that has not been shown in this country for quite some time. The silent majority has not been so silent in the two weeks that have passed since the assassination attempt, with no end in sight. 

Americans are demanding answers for the events on July 13. This is not something that can be swept under the rug in the midst of political uproar. A former president and the Republican presidential candidate almost lost his life. A man who has been painted as a threat to our nation and a threat to our democracy, and his supporters in the same light. It was only a matter of time before something of this measure took place. 

The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, went before a congressional committee to answer for the Secret Service’s response to the attempted assassination. Cheatle dodged question after question, but did say they hoped to wrap up their investigation with answers in 60 days. It was an unacceptable answer that received bipartisan backlash, calling for her to immediately resign. Cheatle resigned the following day.

While the American people still wait for answers, the political players have begun shuffling around the gameboard. The Democratic Party scrambled to fill their nominee spot following the announcement from President Joe Biden that he would not be seeking reelection. It is important to not let the events of July 13 be forgotten. If we as a country are going to label Jan. 6 as an insurrection, then all the more should we be enraged at an attempted assassination of a president of the United States.