Donald Trump and his suspected attacker Ryan Wesley Routh
I joined international media to evaluate the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in two months, and to analyze its possible significance for November’s US Presidential election.
I set out what we know — and don’t know — after the apprehension of a suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, who carried an AK-47 assault rifle onto Trump’s golf course on Friday.
I look at the Trump campaign’s initiative to grab the news cycle with the development, pushing aside the candidate’s disastrous debate performance last week and his “Haitian immigrants are eating your pets” lie.
I consider whether Trump will be more successful than the failed effort to capitalize on the July 13 assassination attempt, or whether Kamala Harris’s campaign can return attention to the important issues in this election.
Watch Al Jazeera English from 6:44
I explain the Trump campaign’s immediate steps to exploit the assassination attempt by reflecting on their previous effort in July, when Trump was slightly wounded in the ear by shooting at a Pennsylvania.
Can the Trump camp keep their narrative going, or do they run into another slip-up, another conspiracy theory, another lie from their candidate?
Or can Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, in contrast, get this campaign back onto issues where they are on firmer ground?
I note:
As unpredictable as this election is, as unpredictable as Donald Trump is, you and I could be talking about a different topic later this week, let alone next week or in early November.
And I conclude with a personal reflection:
Speaking not as an analyst, but as a native of America, I so hope that we could step back from violence, that we could talk about dialogue rather than confrontation, about issues rather than conspiracy theories and falsehoods.
But it’s my fear, in this most important election since 1865, that America will go down the route of division and polarization.
Listen to RTE Radio 1 from 8:21
I spoke with Claire Byrne on Monday morning about the possible consequences for the election.
The Trump folks will try to take over the news cycle on this. They were already on the ropes after the debate last Tuesday when Trump performed so poorly, with that harmful, false narrative of “immigrants are eating our pets”.
As in July, they will present Trump as this almost messianic, larger-than-large figure, focusing on that rather than the issues.
In July, they failed to establish this. Will they be more successful this time?
I spoke with Bhairavi Singh
Listen to Times Radio from 2:07.46
I joined Darryl Morris early Monday for a 50-minute Week in Review.
The first half of the conversation, alongside former CIA officer Glenn Carle, considers the assassination attempt, the Secret Service’s response, the suspect, and the consequences.
Later, I discuss the importance of Taylor Swift in the election, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s posture politics over immigration and a visit to Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, and the furor over a key donor paying for the wardrobe of Starmer’s wife Victoria.
Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live from 58:11
Just before 11 p.m., I spoke with Johnny I’Anson about the situation in Florida and explained how the Trump campaign was already seeking political advantage.
Republicans lay legal groundwork for election challenges: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/legal-blitz-republicans-lay-groundwork-us-election-challenges-2024-09-29/
Republicans are suing more election officials over voter rolls in several battleground states : https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/attempts-to-purge-voter-rolls-increase-as-election-nears/index.html
[Editor’s Note: Penn said this on the podcast of John Solomon, a columnist who has promoted the views of the Trump camp since 2016. No evidence was produced for the claims.]
Mark Penn: ABC News Should Do A Full Investigation Into Debate, “I Don’t Know What They Told The Harris Campaign”: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/09/12/mark_penn_abc_news_should_do_a_full_investigation_into_debate_i_dont_know_what_they_told_the_harris_campaign.html
“Pollster and former Clinton strategist Mark Penn called on ABC News to hire an outside law firm to look into internal communication between the network and the Harris campaign and to “what extent” they planned on “rigging the outcome of this debate. “I don’t know what they told the Harris campaign,” Penn said. “I think the day after, suspicion here is really quite high, and I think a review of all their internal texts and emails really should be done by an independent party to find out to what extent they were planning on, in effect, you know, fact-checking just one candidate and in effect, rigging the outcome of this debate. I think the situation demands nothing less than that.”
[Editor’s Note: An attempt by Trumpists in the House to cover up Trump’s failure with hearings on the debate….]
GOP congressman says ABC News may be called to testify about Trump-Harris debate fairness: https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2024/09/16/congress-house-hearing-abc-news-donald-trump-kamala-harris-debate
“Trump accused the moderators of fact-checking him and not Harris and suggested, without evidence, Harris may have been slipped debate questions in advance…..Some misleading comments by Harris were indeed not fact-checked, such as her claims that Trump is associated with the conservative roadmap known as Project 2025 and that couples are being denied IVF treatment.”
[Editor’s Note: A good example of a pro-Trump conspiracy theory trying to cover up his poor performance in the Presidential debate — perhaps needless to say, there is no evidence to support the actual existence of a “whistleblower” (conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says he “died in a car crash”) or the claims.]
ABC Whistleblower’s Alleged Affidavit Surfaces about Harris-Trump debate: https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/abc-whistleblowers-alleged-affidavit-out-top-claims-about-kamala-harris-donaldtrump-debate-article-113372113
1. Kamala Harris received similar questions in advance of the debate.
2.. The Harris administration allegedly prevented ABC from questioning Joe Biden’s health.
3. They reportedly blocked inquiries into allegations against Kamala Harris’s brother-in-law, accused of embezzling billions in taxpayer money.
4. ABC employees are said to be fearful of potential retribution from Trump.
5. The whistleblower claims to have secret recordings proving the Harris administration pressured moderators to fact-check Trump.
6. ABC was allegedly instructed on which questions to avoid during the debate with Kamala Harris.
The full redacted affidavit is available here: https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4264979/posts