| | 17/09/2024 Tuesday briefing: How another apparent attempt on Donald Trump’s life changes the election campaign | | | | Nimo Omer |  |
| | | Good morning. On Sunday, former US president Donald Trump was rushed to safety after Secret Service agents noticed a gunman hiding just a few hundred metres away from him in the bushes of the Trump international golf course in Florida, close to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort home. The suspect, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, fled the scene after agents opened fire on him. He was later apprehended by local authorities and charged with two gun-related crimes. The incident comes just two months after a rally in Pennsylvania where Trump was injured after a gunman tried to assassinate him. The response across the political spectrum to Sunday’s attack was swift and unanimous. President Joe Biden responded promptly, making clear his relief that Trump was unharmed and reiterating that there was “no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country”. Vice-president Kamala Harris, stressed that she was “deeply disturbed” by the possible assassination attempt. These apparent attempts on Trump’s life are the first of their kind in the US since Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in 1981. For today’s newsletter, I spoke with Guardian US live news editor Chris Michael about what these incidents say about political violence in the US. That’s right after the headlines. | | | | Five big stories | 1 | Labour | Keir Starmer has suggested he will continue to accept gifts from the Labour peer Lord Alli, as he rejected accusations that he had not followed parliamentary rules relating to gifts of clothes to his wife | 2 | Employment | Insecure work can often be a trap, rather than a stepping stone to a better life, according to new research that tracked the employment of 10,000 people across four years. | 3 | UK news | The former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence, completing an extraordinary fall from grace after admitting accessing indecent photographs of children as young as seven. | 4 | Europe | The death toll from torrential rain and flooding in central and eastern Europe has risen to at least 16, with several more people missing, as authorities reported deaths in the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria and warned the worst may yet be to come. | 5 | Health | Tackling Britain’s growing ill-health crisis holds the key to increasing growth and the government needs to invest £15bn a year on a radical programme of reforms designed to improve wellbeing and national prosperity, a left-of-centre thinktank has said. |
| | | | In depth: ‘Violence is a longstanding feature of American politics’ | | The reactions to an apparent second attempt on Trump’s life were inevitably predictable. There was a collective, bipartisan expression of shock and outrage. Many said that political violence has no place in the US, “although, obviously, political violence is a longstanding feature of American politics, and indeed, you might say a feature, not a bug, of political life,” Chris says. Joe Biden has also committed to providing every resource available to support Trump going forward – though some have asked why this hadn’t happened after the attempt on his life in July. Trump still sought to blame president Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris for the shooting, telling Fox News that “their rhetoric” was causing him to be “shot at”. Although there have been attempts to politicise this incident, from figures like Elon Musk, it has been more difficult for Trump’s allies to do it persuasively this time around. The attack in Pennsylvania spawned the now infamous image of a bloodied Trump pumping his fist in the air and shouting “fight, fight, fight”, creating a lightning in a bottle moment that made it seem as if he had already clinched the election. This time though, says Chris, “there’s no such image like that, and his opponent is much stronger”, making it infinitely more difficult for the GOP and Trump allies to recreate that fervour. The suspect’s reported lack of a clear political motivation has also made it challenging for Republicans to point the finger in a particular direction – Routh was a registered Democrat but he also reportedly said on social media that he voted for Trump in 2016 and expressed support for a Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy ticket in the 2024 Republican primaries.
The Secret Service’s role After the events in July, the first of their kind in 43 years, the agency came under intense scrutiny over security lapses that left Trump exposed. Last week, a report found that a number of substantial communication breakdowns led up to the shooting in Pennsylvania. For there to have been another in under two months has reignited the concerns that not enough is being done to protect the former president. Although Trump does have a security detail, which has increased since the first attempt on his life, as he is not in office, he has a slightly lower level of security than would be afforded to a sitting president. Nonetheless, Ronald Rowe Jr, the US Secret Service acting director, insisted that “the protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective”. Some have praised the Secret Service for spotting and apprehending the suspect quickly – Trump himself thanked them and other law enforcement agencies for an “incredible job” – but others have raised apprehensions. Agents have said that they were not able to surround the whole golf course that Trump was playing in – had he been president they would have. “He may not be the president, but he is a former president and a presidential candidate,” says Chris. And, considering the events of July, he adds that “it’s outrageous that more wasn’t already being done”.
What this means for the election | | The complete and utter unpredictability of the last few months in US politics means that there is no way to know what the potential consequences of this apparent assassination attempt could be. Logistically, the shape of the campaigns could change. In July, Trump briefly stopped holding rallies in outdoor spaces, although after extra security measures were put in place those gatherings resumed. There were suggestions that the potential second assassination attempt could curtail further public appearances but the former presidents team has said that Trump will hit the campaign trail this week as previously scheduled despite recent events. Chris also notes the wider impact of the “normalisation” of political violence – not just on high profile figures but on everyday people who work in politics. “There’s a lot of concern about the knock-on effect on poll workers for instance in the election who have been increasingly politicised over the last few years”. The threats and abuse became so acute that the US justice department has had to create a dedicated taskforce to deal with violent messages, including death threats, targeting election officials and their families. In political terms, this incident adds to the sense of instability surrounding Trump. “The voters that he needs to win in swing states that self-identify as moderates are really turned off by this sense that Trump is an agent of chaos. So, even though this could further solidify support among his base, and reconfirm to them that he’s a victim and a martyr, I can’t imagine that undecided voters are going to respond well in the longterm”. | |
| | What else we’ve been reading | | Anita Chaudhuri has written a great piece about whether keeping up with storage systems is actually more trouble than it’s worth. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters For the Guardian opinion team’s How I quit series, Will Clempner writes on breaking his smartphone addiction – and how much of ourselves we give over to these little bricks in our hands. Have a read … once you’ve scrolled through the rest of this email, of course. Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team Shōgun won big at the Emmys on Sunday, and was hailed as a boon for representation. But, as Stuart Heritage writes, did it shut out other worthy winners? Hannah Kate Lloyd reflects on how Laguna Beach– which introduced us to Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari and a cavalcade of hangers-on – might be the true patient zero of TV’s “structured reality” revolution. Charlie Finally got around to reading this powerful dialogue between Orna Guralnik, the Israeli-born counsellor from the television series Couples Therapy, and Christine, her former client, who is Palestinian. Hannah
| | | | | Sport | | Olympics | Sebastian Coe is officially in the running for the biggest job in global sport after being confirmed as one of seven candidates fighting to be the next International Olympic Committee president. Golf | The Solheim Cup had not even finished before recriminations around the defeated European team began, but Suzann Pettersen, the captain, appears unmoved by any criticism of her leadership. Football | Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool are back where they need to be as he prepares to lead the club upon their return to Champions League duty in Milan on Tuesday. | |
| | The front pages | | The Guardian leads on “Suspect charged after apparent assassination attempt on Trump”. The Times has “Working at home boosts productivity, says Labour”, while the Telegraph says “Starmer defiant over peer’s freebies”. The Financial Times reports “Brussels lines up €40bn loans package for Ukraine despite faltering G7 effort”. The i reports “Huw Edwards avoids jail over images of child abuse”. The Sun follows the same story with “Sickening”, while the Mirror has “Appalling”. The Mail says “Disgraced, reviled … but not a day in jail”. | | | | Today in Focus | | The devastating secrets of Huw Edwards The newsreader has been sentenced for accessing indecent images of children. How did the BBC handle the scandal? Dan Boffey reports. | | | | | Cartoon of the day | Nicola Jennings | | | | | The Upside | A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad | | A 33-year-old from Lancaster has gone viral after filming himself battling to pack groceries faster than notoriously speedy Aldi staff. Wowed by the “athleticism” of staff in his local store, Leroy Lupton began filming videos for friends, before taking to TikTok. His Street Fighter-esque clips have since racked up over 2m views. In his latest clip, Lupton struggles as a trolley-load of items – including a Pot Noodle and a four pack of Stella Artois – are hurled towards him. Lupton says his ultimate aim is to defeat a particularly fast “final boss” cashier later in the year. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday | | | | Bored at work? | And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | | | | | | | | We call the shots on all our stories.
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