Trump survives assassination attempt as gunman shot dead

Former US President Donald Trump, who’s leading in the polls for reelection in November, has survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. A bullet left him with a bleeding ear, one man in the crowd was killed by the assassin and two others seriously injured. Secret Service agents shot dead the gunman.

The assassin could hardly have come closer without succeeding. One of his bullets hit Donald Trump’s ear, causing bleeding from a superficial wound. A centimetre or two nearer and the former President would almost certainly have been killed in his attempt to reverse his defeat by Joe Biden four years ago.

The dead gunman has been named by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, shot dead by secret service agents assigned to protect the former President. Trump himself was rushed from the scene and left for his New Jersey residence after receiving medical treatment. He has thanked his security detail but some of his allies are asking how an armed man got onto the roof of a nearby building.

The assassination attempt was in front of live television cameras. The former President was speaking when he clutched his ear and dropped to the floor. Several gunshots were clearly audible before agents surrounded him and bundled him from the stage. President Biden has spoken to his rival and condemned the "sick" attack, inaccurately adding that “there is no place in America for this kind of violence".

In fact, Trump joins a long line of American Presidents and presidential candidates who have been the target of either failed or successful assassination attempts. Neither they nor the mass shootings of schoolchildren have had any real impact on American gun culture, which promotes the widespread ownership of firearms.

Donald Trump is backed by some of the most vociferous supporters of the ‘right to bear arms’ enshrined in the US constitution. The only political consequence of the assassination attempt is likely to be a strengthening in support for his campaign to return to the White House.

His lead in the polls has been growing as Joe Biden faces calls from an increasing number of his supporters to quit the race following several memory lapses during public appearances have cast doubt on his fitness for office.

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