
The response to the horrific shooting at former US president Donald Trump at a campaign rally has been both universal and predictable. Across the political spectrum and all over the world, leaders rushed to say that violence should have no place in the political life of the country.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. joined other world leaders, including Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia, Narendra Modi of India, Fumio Kishida of Japan, and Lawrence Wong of Singapore, as well as Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea and Lai Ching Te of Taiwan, in condemning the assassination attempt, where the common theme was the condemnation of violence in politics and democracy.
Mr. Trump narrowly survived the assassination attempt, the bullet that was aimed at his head just grazing his ear. Although it drew blood, he said he was “fine” and is scheduled to continue his campaign for the US presidency. The rooftop shooter, a 20-year-old man, was killed by the security detail. One rallygoer did not survive.
However, despite the widespread condemnation of violence following the act that was intended to end Trump’s life, we are yet to see if there will be an actual cessation of the political warfare that has raged for years, and has even intensified in recent months, not just in the USA, but in other parts of the world. The normalization of violent rhetoric in recent years is something that Filipinos have been familiar with, and the assassinations of public officials not uncommon, as evidenced by the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo in 2023.
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump should provide a fresh opportunity for political leaders all over the world to reassess the situation and climate that most of the time, they themselves create and continue to nurture, in the belief that kind of fanaticism that borders on violence, especially among their supporters, benefits their campaigns and chances of consolidating their hold on power.
We can only hope that the sight of blood coming from the near miss with death of one of their own can make those politicos realize how they are playing with fire when they contribute to the normalization of violent rhetoric for their own short sighted reasons.*