Published July 17, 2024
As our politics has become ever more polarized over the past four years—drawing comparisons to the violent political and social conflicts of the 1960s—up till now we’ve been able to reassure ourselves that “at least the assassinations haven’t started.” Well, strike that. With a burst of bullets passing millimeters from former President Donald Trump’s skull, we seem to find ourselves back in the world of 1968, when Palestinian radical Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy for his support of Israel. Or are we perhaps in the world of 1981, when President Ronald Reagan survived a bullet from the gun of would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr., an infatuated madman simply hoping to impress actress Jodie Foster? No one knows for sure.
But that doesn’t stop us from speculating. Although America is no stranger to political assassination attempts, this is the first major one of the social media era—a volatile combination indeed. Within minutes of the story breaking, X was rife with rumors and theories. Some alleged that the shooter was an antifa member named Mark Violets, which turned out to be false; others speculated that Trump hadn’t been shot at all but had just faked the whole thing as a publicity stunt to boost his candidacy, a narrative that grew increasingly implausible as news emerged of the innocent bystanders shot. At least half of Saturday night’s hot takes were discredited by Sunday morning, and probably half of Sunday’s will be discredited by the time you read this.
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Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., is a Fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping public leaders understand the intellectual and historical foundations of our current breakdown of public trust, social cohesion, and sound governance. His research investigates shifting understandings of the nature of freedom and authority, and how a more full-orbed conception of freedom, rooted in the Christian tradition, can inform policy that respects both the dignity of the individual and the urgency of the common good. He also serves as President of the Davenant Institute.
