Attack on Trump is a warning for Europe, media assess
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman. Photo AFP, Rebecca Droke
European Union
The world was shocked at the assassination attempt on US President candidate Donald Trump on Saturday. What is the message for Europe? “It is a warning to everyone, regardless of political affiliation, to restore dignity and honor to politics.”
There was a real chance that Trump's election campaign had ended abruptly on Saturday when a gunman decided to open fire at him. Although one person was killed, Trump survived miraculously. Political analysts call the assassination attempt a gamechanger for the American elections. And not only that, the shooting is also a serious warning to Europe, some media warn.
The attack, carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, isa violent reminder of the enormous tension and pressure that has been building up in the political climate in the United States, the Reformatorisch Dagblad writes in a comment.
A recent poll from the University of Chicago showed that 10 per cent of the respondents justifies the use of political violence to prevent Donald Trump from becoming President. Another 7 per cent believed that violence is a justified means to make Trump President. That means, according to researcher Robert Pape, who was behind the poll, that there are millions of potential shooters around in the United States.
‘We found that 10% of American adults agree that the use of force is justified to prevent Donald Trump from becoming President – so that equates to 26 million American adults’ @ProfessorPape on #Weekend @bbcworldservicehttps://t.co/50ewTn0EZt
— Albana Kasapi (@AlbanaKasapi) July 14, 2024
The attack on Trump gave immediate rise to several speculations about the motives of the shooter. Some Americans are convinced that Crooks was brainwashed at school to hate Trump, the French Roman Catholic newspaper La Croix reports. They believe in a conspiracy theory that blames schools for indoctrinating children, rather than educating them. In addition, the “deep state” and leftist politicians are accused of being behind the attack, the Danish Christian newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad writes.
Political analysts refer to several trends that lead to the justification of violence among the American population. One of these trends is the declining trust in the democratic system. More than half of the voters in the USA does not believe that elections can solve the most fundamental problems in the country, The Guardian writes. Combined with support for conspiracy theories and support for political violence, the distrust in democracy is an explosive mix that can lead to situations as the one on Saturday, Robert Pape warned.
Civil war
The attack on Donald Trump is not only something for the United States to worry about, media in Europe warn. Also in Europe, the trust in the democratic system is under pressure, a study shows, as reported in May by Euronews. For example, in France, under half of the respondents still feels that the country is democratic. In the context of the national elections, just held in France, Macron even warned for a civil war. In Germany, Greece and Hungary, people also worry about the democratic level of their government system.
A survey by Ipsos also demonstrates that many people believe that the democratic systems are in worse shape than they were five years ago, Politico reports. People older than 16 were questioned in Croatia, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, in addition to adults in the United States. Only in Sweden, a majority indicated that they are satisfied with how the country is governed.
And just like in the United States, some people are not scared of using violence to assert their political views. Only a few months ago, on May 15, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was the victim of an assassination attempt. The assailant later revealed that his deed was politically motivated, because he was dissatisfied with government policies and Fico's hesitation towards supporting Ukraine, Daily Maverick writes.
This shows that the ingredients for an explosion of political violence are also present in several countries in Europe. Therefore, it is high time to combat the extremely high levels of polarisation, also on our own continent.
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