On Saturday night, for at least the third time, an armed gunman caused shots to be fired at an event at which Donald Trump was present. According to the US government, each gunman had shared anti-Trump sentiments and sought to engage in political violence by assassinating Trump and/or harming other top US government officials.
There are many theories floating around suggesting this most recent incident (as well as the prior ones) was fake and orchestrated by Trump to improve his political fortune or achieve important goals for the United States...such as building political support for the building of a new ballroom. I will not weigh in on any of these theories other than to say I am generally skeptical of conspiracy theories, particularly those that require the Trump administration to be competent and keep things hush hush.
It is impossible to trust anything Trump and the United States government says, so who knows what is true and what is not? Some have made the point that Trump and his top officials intentionally act in such a way as to make the public question whether objective truth can ever be discerned. If you become convinced that you can never really know what happened, you are less likely to render a judgment against Trump and hold him accountable.
So what should we make of these nearly world-altering events? Would the United States and the world be a better place overall if Donald Trump was suddenly no longer with us? Maybe, but even if Trump's sudden demise would improve things, it does not justify political violence. Putting aside the fact that political violence is just about always immoral, particularly when it comes to fairly elected officials, it is unlikely to fix all of our problems and will likely cause a slew of news ones.
If you think that simply ridding the country of Donald Trump will put this country back on the right track, I think you have deluded yourself out of desperation. Donald Trump is not a disease harming an otherwise healthy country. He is a symptom of a diseased country. Donald Trump did not forcibly take power in 2024 with an army at his back against the wishes of the American people. He won a fair election.
In a country with about 160 million people registered to vote, more than 77 million people voted for Donald Trump with every opportunity to know who he was and what he might do. They did this despite his belligerent, selfish nature. They did this despite him repeatedly undermining the legitimacy of our system of government for more than half a decade by claiming an election was "stolen" from him. They did this despite him promising during the campaign to do distasteful things. They did this despite him coming close to successfully staging a coup in 2020 and egging on a violent insurrection at the capitol. While Trump's departure from the political scene may cause his personality cult to fizzle out or fracture, it probably will not lead those 77 million to make better decisions going forward.
Then there are the negative, unintended consequences of political violence. It harms the legitimacy of our political system. If the will of the people is undone by a simple violent act outside the law, people will lose faith in the rule of law and their ability to actively participate in the governing of this country. This, in turn, may lead to the erosion of other parts of the system and legal protections. For example, if my choice wins an election, and I still lose because my guy gets killed for trying to do what I wanted of him, why should I respect the rest of the system? Why not support a violent dictator who does the things I want and suppresses those with whom I disagree?
Similarly, as political violence increases, we get more used to it. It becomes a more attractive option to more people. Then it can snowball until our system collapses and those in power take drastic and oppressive action to ostensibly protect themselves and the will of the people.
And things can always get worse. Someone new suddenly comes to power. Will they be worse somehow, particularly in the moment of great political and cultural upheaval created by violence?
While sometimes, in a moment of despair, we wonder if violence is the answer, we must stick to our morals and remember the virtues of the rule of law. Violence is not the answer, particularly while elections remain free and fair.