EDITORIAL: Attack on Trump puts America on the brink

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With the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, America is staring into the abyss of political violence, into which it can either plunge or back away.

Either President Joe Biden and the Democrats can stop portraying Trump as a modern-day Hitler, or they can continue on the rhetorical path that may well have contributed to Saturday’s near tragedy at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Similarly, either Trump and the Republicans can stop portraying any election outcome other than a Trump victory as a stolen election and the end of democracy, or they can keep pushing America to the brink of political chaos.

The failed attempt on Trump’s life by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks — a registered Republican who also made a small political donation to the Democrats — was outrageous, but it was neither surprising nor shocking given the current political climate in the United States.

Nor would it have been shocking or surprising if an attempt had been made on Biden’s life.

Thankfully, Trump escaped serious injury, although a full and independent investigation is needed into how Crooks was able to get so close to Trump on a nearby roof that a successful head shot would have killed him.

Especially so, since at least one eyewitness said he pointed out the gunman to police before he started firing and was killed by a Secret Service sniper.

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Innocent bystander Corey Comperatore, 50, a former fire chief, died protecting his family by diving on them and covering them with his own body as the bullets flew, while David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were wounded but survived.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, BQ Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh rightly and unequivocally condemned the attack on Trump and it’s a good time to remind ourselves that Canada’s security and intelligence services have repeatedly warned us that threats against Canadian politicians are increasing and becoming normalized.

It should go without saying — even though it needs to be said constantly — that nothing justifies violence against any politician, of any political stripe, for any reason — full stop.

What distinguishes democracies from tyrannies is that we choose our political leaders by ballots, not bullets, and power is transferred from one government to the next peacefully.