High anxiety: Can Trump and Biden lead us out of the moment we're in now?
It's an image Americans should never forget.
Former President Donald Trump, flanked by U.S. Secret Service agents and bloodied after becoming the victim of an apparent assassination attempt, pumped his right fist in the air in defiance and appeared to shout "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The crowd did not hesitate. “USA! USA! USA!” they chanted in response, even as they had no idea how much danger they, too, were in.
What unfolded in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon should not be viewed as anything that has to do with a partisan “fight” or the “USA.”
This was a terrifying moment for our country.
We demand democracy. We want debates even though they leave us deflated. We demand all the lights and glamour that we expect will come with the presidential conventions. Show us. Convince us. Dazzle us.
But Saturday showed us something different. Political violence isn’t democracy. It’s simply unacceptable. And it’s not what the electoral process was – or should – be built upon. We must be better.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence – it’s sick, it’s sick,” President Joe Biden said hours after the attack. “It’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening.”
Of course, we know this has happened before. Maybe some of us have lived through it. Or we learned about it in history classes – successful murders or attempts on the lives of presidents or presidential candidates.
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But this is 2024. How can this still happen?
I’ll say it. I’m anxious. And I know I’m not alone. Saturday made me more so.
Some days it’s all I can think about. Because I can’t remember a time – at least in my life – when our political process has felt so unstable, so untenable, so dangerous.
Neither Biden nor Trump are ideal candidates. But what’s happening in our country is a pure mess. An assassination attempt? Really? If you’re paying attention, all of it must be stressful, scary and discouraging.
I began talking to voters in America’s crucial swing states months ago about their intentions this November. Some told me they just couldn’t imagine going to the polls to vote for either Biden or Trump. One candidate is too old, the other too corrupt.
But now we have a gunman on a roof.
So very much is at stake.
Maps and graphics: What happened in Trump assassination attempt
So, yes, I'm anxious about the election. About the candidates. About Americans who are exhausted and frustrated by it all. About what might happen before Nov. 5 – and after it.
As of this moment, we only know the person authorities identified as the shooter, not the motive.
But I don’t care about the motive. What I care about is how this country will move forward and carry out a fair election without more violence.
I care about democracy and whether we can recover from more foolishness.
I care about whether we can carry Trump and Biden safely to their conventions. Whether either one of them can lead the country out of this.
I’m anxious.
Suzette Hackney is a national columnist. Reach her on X: @suzyscribe.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: High anxiety: It's up to Trump, Biden to lead us out of this moment
