{"id":544,"date":"2024-07-14T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=544"},"modified":"2024-07-14T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T21:00:00","slug":"trump-survived-an-assassination-attempt-will-our-politics-bu-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=544","title":{"rendered":"Trump Survived an Assassination Attempt. Will Our Politics? | BU Today"},"content":{"rendered":"


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BU political scientist, expert in political violence, says the tone from both sides matters<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n

If the heated political atmosphere of a divided America inspired Saturday\u2019s assassination attempt on former president and presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the big question now is this: will that temperature come down or will it rise even more, says a Boston University political scientist, whose research focuses on political violence and its effect on elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next couple of weeks are going to be really crucial,\u201d says Steven Rosenzweig<\/a>, a College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of political science. \u201cMy hope is that this leads to somewhat of a reset, but I\u2019m not holding my breath for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actions and tone of politicians on both sides of the aisle in the immediate future will likely have a big impact on how this violence affects the election\u2014and our future\u2014he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is probably a conventional wisdom that this might provide some rallying effect, some support for former president Trump, who was targeted here,\u201d\u00a0Rosenzweig says. \u201cBut I\u2019d say it\u2019s very, very uncertain, and there\u2019s a long way to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, what\u2019s most important really is beyond the immediate electoral impact\u2014how this affects our politics more broadly, and that\u2019s where I\u2019m a bit more concerned.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump was wounded in the right ear (it\u2019s not confirmed if a bullet or shrapnel struck him) while speaking to supporters at a rally at a fairgrounds in Butler, Pa., just days before he was to again accept his party\u2019s nomination at the Republican convention in Milwaukee this week. Three people in the audience were shot, one was killed and two critically wounded.<\/p>\n

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Trump is covered by U.S. Secret Service agents after gunfire at Saturday\u2019s campaign rally in Butler, Pa. AP Photo\/Evan Vucci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Secret Service snipers killed the suspected shooter in his perch on a nearby roof, and multiple investigations are underway into how he got so close with a rifle. He was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a registered Republican from nearby Bethel Park, Pa., who fired an AR-15 purchased by a family member. (Read a Bostonia<\/em> feature about how the AR-15 has become a weapon that has helped divide the nation here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Rosenzweig notes that several U.S. presidents and presidential candidates have been wounded or killed, including Robert F. Kennedy and George Wallace, and others have been targeted, including Gerald Ford. But there\u2019s not necessarily a clear pattern to how the incidents evolve, in part because of changing times, he says.<\/p>\n

Those candidates did not go on to win their elections, so if there is a rallying effect, clearly it wasn\u2019t enough to change the outcome, he notes. President Ronald Reagan\u2019s popularity may have grown after the 1981 attempt on his life, though, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur politics are different today than they were at that time as well,\u201d Rosenzweig says. \u201cWe\u2019re in a highly polarized environment where the vast majority of voters are going to vote one way or the other regardless of what happens in the next few months. So the biggest question is how it affects the marginal voters, those very few voters that still, you know, have to make up their minds, and I think we\u2019re just not sure about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is much more concerned about how this incident will affect the nation\u2019s overall atmosphere: \u201cIt concerns me a lot. I think we are at a point where things can certainly get worse as a result of the way our politics are operating at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It concerns me a lot. I think we are at a point where things can certainly get worse as a result of the way our politics are operating at the moment.<\/p>\n