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I was sitting in an empty horse racing bleachers at Hollywood Casino in Washington, Pennsylvania, smoking a cigarette and preparing to order a steak when I saw the news on my feed that a second confirmed assassination attempt had been made on Donald Trump.
After saying a prayer to Archangel Michael, I returned to Bistecca Steakhouse, sat at the bar, and told the bartender and the two men there, “There's been another assassination attempt on Trump.”
Trump blames Biden-Harris 'comments' for latest assassination attempt, says they'll 'save the country'
“Were you surprised?” the retired Teamster asked, which triggered a memory. “It almost seems normal now,” the bartender added. Then I ordered a ribeye steak and a glass of Merlot and went back to watching the Chiefs-Bengals game.
Ryan W. Routh, suspected of plotting to assassinate Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at a golf course in West Palm Beach, stands handcuffed after being arrested for a traffic violation near Palm City, Florida, on September 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Distributed via Reuters)
None of the broadcasters paused the game to report on the news, my phone wasn't bombarded with notifications, and I'd bet 90% of the people on the casino floor and in the sportsbook didn't even know anything had happened.
We all know that if there had been an assassination attempt on the life of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Olympics would not only have been taken off the news, but would have been canceled as well. But this is not just a matter of media bias, it is also a matter of societal insensitivity.
If you take a step back and think about it, this reaction to the near-assassination of a former president and sitting candidate is downright bizarre, and, if you count, dissimilar to the reaction two months ago when Trump was last nearly assassinated by crazed leftists.
I was interviewing some voters at a Toledo restaurant that day when news of the first attempt broke. People stopped and gathered around the bar's TV to watch the coverage. There was an electric air of shock and fear.
And yet, as news of the second attempt in Pennsylvania broke, I was reminded of that time in July when I was watching Trump wipe blood from his face and one of the men said those exact same words: “Are you surprised?”
In fairness, the horrific incident at Butler was more dramatic — Corey Compartore tragically lost his life and the footage was heartbreaking — but had the Palm Beach assassination attempt happened on July 13, Toledo restaurants would have been shocked no less.
Despite furrowed brows and condemnations of political violence from politicians and commentators on all sides, the normalization of this assassination attempt on Sunday was clear.
Inside the casino and bar, one retired Teamster said news of a second attempt to assassinate President Trump came as no surprise.
The danger of this desensitization to attempted murders of political opponents cannot be overstated: It only portends a future in which not only do these attempts increase, but also Americans' basic respect for the lives of those with whom we disagree declines.
Twenty-five years ago in America, when we weren't so vocal about hating each other, it would have been natural for us to have an event this week in which Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden would join forces to remind us of our core nonviolent values.
But that's unlikely to happen, because the only thing that matters today is winning elections. Each side treats the other as an existential threat, not a governing partner, but what's the point of winning elections if the country is so deeply divided that it barely functions?
The younger of the two men at the steakhouse, my friend with the Teamster mustache, finally spoke up. He had some idea of who I was and where I stood on the political spectrum. “I'm kind of on the right,” he said.
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“So you think this could have been…” I interjected.
“Yes,” he said, and we both knew what I meant.
I wanted to tell him he was crazy and take off his tinfoil hat, but I couldn't. Not because I don't believe officials were involved in either assassination attempt, but because we've been lied to on a regular basis, from COVID-19 to Russian collusion to Hunter Biden's laptop.
What, I have to tell him to believe what he reads?
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Around midnight, I was smoking a cigarette outside my hotel, by the side door that was propped open on a stone. The mountainous landscape of Western Pennsylvania was shrouded in darkness, and I was gazing up at the big round moon, thinking about everything: the assassination attempt, the reaction, my general attitude.
And all I could think was, “Am I surprised?”
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