By Col. Bill Connor ——Bio and Archives--September 23, 2024
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Unlike what happened after the first Trump assassination attempt when Democrats and media acknowledged the need to tone down the rhetoric, now after the second attempt they are doubling down on inciting rhetoric against Trump. The day after an assassin was engaged by Secret Service within a few hundred yards of shooting Trump on his golf course, Hillary Clinton called Trump a “threat to our country and the world”.
A day later, the New York Times blamed the victim “The Anger That Defines And Threatens Trump”. Democratic Congressman Jim Himes said what many other Democrats and media figures have claimed:
“[When Trump] uses the language he does . . . the level of violence will increase.” (NY Post, Sept. 19, 2024)
Only five days after the attempt, a new and more ominous talking point developed. Liberal New York Times Senior Political Correspondent Maggie Haberman attacked Trump for showing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and weakness “Looking at his face was very telling, because you see his eyes dart off to the right, and he jerks his body, and he says it that he thought that somebody was coming up to the stage, He is on edge…. an acknowledgement of anxiety is pretty unusual for a guy who likes to project strength at all times.”
Haberman then alleged “(Trump) and his campaign feel very under siege.” Irrationally, as Haberman claims “But there’s the one shooter in Butler, Pennsylvania, and there’s the alleged gunman in Florida. And so far, there’s no reason to believe that those have ties to anybody,” (The Hill, Sept. 21, 2024)
These allegations and attacks by Haberman need to stop. Democrats and media allies should not incite assassination attempts, but more importantly should not further the aims of assassins by capitalizing on the normal human reactions to a combat situation.
First, it’s important to recognize the level of incitement leading these assassins to act. During a 2020 Presidential Primary Debate, Kamala Harris was asked about the greatest national security threat America faced. Unbelievably, she answered “Donald Trump”. In 2022, Joe Biden called Trump and his supports a “threat to the foundations of American Democracy”.
A plethora of Democrats and media allies have called Trump a Fascist, semi Fascist, Hitler and have claimed he would end American Democracy to establish a “dictatorship” through a “bloodbath”.
The left has claimed Trump would “Make America Slaves Again” (MASA), which the second shooter repeated in his writings. The second shooter had written a book which encouraged the Iranians to assassinate Trump. Repeating Democratic rhetoric, he constantly warned Trump was a threat to Democracy. The left both ramped up this same rhetoric, while simultaneously blaming Trump’s rhetoric for his own assassination attempt. This tells Trump the assassination attempts will continue.
In terms of PTSD, I have watched Trump closely since the Butler shooting. His demeanor brought back painful memories of my own emotions after combat. I recall during my first major firefight and aftermath. When incoming enemy bullets started snapping, my training over many years kicked in and I acted primarily on reflex. I heard fire, saw explosions, and saw men shot dead (thankfully, no Americans were killed in that action).
During that firefight, adrenaline was high. I surprised myself being able to think clearly and give direction and fight while we moved through a long, complex ambush. That men were being wounded and killed did not affect me during the fight. Once the fight was over, however, the full reality of what happened hit me.
When I saw Trump walking into the GOP convention days after the Butler shooting, I could see on his face the kind of reflective sobriety I remember feeling after my fight. According to Haberman, Trump has watched that video of the Butler shooting over and over again.
The soldiers in the Afghanistan firefight I described talked about what had happened over and over so that we could understand and accept it. In another fight, I was almost killed by an enemy mortar that landed only feet away from me. Miraculously, it didn’t kill me.
After that experience, I was much more sensitive to any kind of enemy mortar or missile attacks. This is similar to Trump actually being struck in the ear by the bullet and now showing anxiety. He will naturally be much more sensitive about the danger though this will fade.
What no American should do is to attack Trump’s normal human reactions to being shot, almost killed, and being near someone being killed. Those attacks on the alleged “PTSD” rewards assassins, who wanted to end a candidate’s run for office.
Stigmatizing Trump as being unfit due to PTSD complete what the assassin set up to accomplish. Additionally, The normal anxieties after a shooting is something all combat veterans understand. We feel as angry attempting to claim it as weakness so those like Haberman can politically capitalize.
After an attempted assassination, the right answer as Americans is to tone down rhetoric and understand the after-effects of combat. Going through this experience brings some anxiety, but it also brings strength and brings us closer to God. We need strong leaders who are close to God right now more than ever.
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