The assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump, who is the presidential candidate of the Republican party, has put America’s toxic election campaign under the global limelight. Further, it also highlights the terrifying gun culture in the US. A spray of bullets may have only grazed Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, but they killed one rally attendee and critically wounded two others. The US secret service killed the gunman and has since then identified him as Thomas Mathew Crooks. The incident has deeply divided the USA and has damaged the social and cultural fabric of the nation. The illusion of security and safety in American politics – built over decades – has been dramatically shattered.
Not since Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinkley Jr in 1981 has there been such a dramatic act of violence directed against a president – or presidential candidate. The incident has taken the US back to its dark days. More than a half-century ago, two Kennedy brothers – one a president and one a presidential candidate – were felled by assassins’ bullets. Civil rights leaders such as Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcolm X all also lost their lives in political violence. The US is considered to be a model democracy across the world. Its presidential election being hit by the assassination attempt of a candidate who also happens to be a former president has deeply hurt the image of the nation. The 4 November battle between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden will get more acrimony in the days to come. The whole world will be watching the US presidential election closely.