The Second Trump Assassination Attempt: What You Need to Know

Piece by Ryan Spacek

Former president Donald Trump was unharmed after the assassination attempt at his golf club on September 15, which is still being investigated by the FBI, the Secret Service, and local police. The suspect, a 58 year-old man, is currently in police custody and it is believed that he was attempting to assassinate Trump. This is the second attempt on the former president’s life since the beginning of his campaign as the Republican candidate for the 2024 election. 

What happened? 

Trump was golfing at his club near West Palm Beach, Florida, when Secret Service agents assigned to protect him spotted the barrel of a rifle poking out of a bush about 400-500 yards away from where the former president was standing. One of the agents opened fire and a man fled the scene. He drove to a neighboring county, where he was caught by Florida law enforcement. The would-be assassin is believed to have been in position at the golf course waiting for Trump for around 12 hours, but the agents who ended up catching him maintain that he “did not have a line of sight” on Trump. A camera, a backpack, a loaded rifle, and a bag containing food were later found at the scene. As of the time of writing, more details of the attempt are being investigated.

Who is the suspect?

The suspect is a former convicted felon who currently faces two charges involving firearms. It is believed that he didn’t fire any shots, but attempted assassination-related charges could be added on later. He lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Hawaii in 2018 where he and his son owned a shed building company. 

The suspect is known to have very strong opinions on the ongoing war in Ukraine, having staged multiple attempts to raise money and recruit volunteers to help with the war. At one point, he even went to Kyiv to participate in an anti-Russia demonstration holding a placard reading “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” Despite all of this, Oleksandr Shahuri, a member of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, stated that the suspect has never been in or worked with the Ukrainian armed forces and he had been previously rejected from their ranks because he had no military experience. 

As for the suspect’s views on politics, he does not seem to be aligned with either party and he has changed his positions on political representatives many times in the past. In 2020, he posted on Twitter (now X) that Trump should win reelection and urged him to issue an executive order that made the DOJ prosecute instances of police misconduct. As time has gone on, his opinions on Trump seem to be more negative and he has expressed support for current president Joe Biden and his vice president Kamala Harris. 

The suspect has a criminal history involving firearms. In 2002, he was convicted for possession of a weapon of mass destruction and was later convicted of a felony involving owning a gun with an obliterated or defaced serial number. 

What did Trump, Harris, and Biden have to say? 

After the assassination attempt, Trump posted “I AM SAFE AND WELL” on his social media accounts and expressed gratitude to the Secret Service for protecting him. Now, Trump and his running mate JD Vance are blaming the assassination attempt on the political ideas of President Biden and Vice President Harris, saying to Fox News that “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at” and posting on his social media that “[the left] has taken the politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust” and “it will only get worse” if the Democrats stay in power. 

Vice President Harris, the Democratic candidate running against Trump this election, responded by posting on X that she was “glad he is safe” and that “Violence has no place in America”. She did not include election-related messages in her posts or statements related to the assassination attempt.

Current President Biden briefly addressed the assassination attempt while leaving the White House, stating “Thank God the president’s OK” and “The [Secret] Service needs more help.” Later in the week, Biden and Trump got on a call together, in which they had a short conversation unrelated to politics and discussed a few issues connected to the attempt, notably Secret Service protection and law enforcement. Biden also kept election-related messages out of his messages related to the attempt.

How will this affect the election?

Nobody is really sure. Although this is certainly an important event, it is only one of many that has occurred so far this election cycle. It is impossible to know whether or not this event will be overshadowed or have its impact minimized by other events that will take place in the future. But with the election less than two months away, the attention brought to Trump because of these assassination attempts has the potential to draw a small but sizable number of potential voters to vote for Trump, mostly undecided voters who already lean Republican, towards him. 

Both assassination attempts have made Trump a more sympathetic figure for Republicans, with many maintaining that he already “took a bullet for democracy” and that more people are coming after him. However, this second attempt on his life is unlikely to change the perspectives of most undecided and independent voters, who generally think for themselves and mainly focus on a candidate’s policies instead of what image they get from the news.

Another interesting shift that may occur is in Democrats’ messages towards Trump. In this election, instead of being seen as a perpetrator of political violence (like January 6), Trump can also be seen as a victim of political violence and the Democrats have to be careful what they say about him. For example, instead of leading with how Trump is a “threat to democracy” who incited an insurrection, they might talk about his unpopular policies regarding trade and immigration. If they make this change in message, it will be harder for Trump to say that the Democrats are inciting violence directed towards him and it will generally make it more difficult for Trump to do much negative campaigning.

 The most likely effects of this event are that it will change Democrats’ messages about Trump, draw in the votes of those already leaning right, and get supporters even more motivated to vote for him on election day.