Opinion | Who shot Trump? Or this is evidential of America's gun violence
By Augustus K. Yeung
This is the question people are asking. However, first things first: Trump would like the American voters to believe that he was shot, there and then, thereby getting popular sympathy votes as he did look bloody but defying, showing his fighting character. This is Trump at work, again!
If you watch the video of the scene again and again, you will come to ask critical questions such as, "Why was Trump so calm when he was shot? Why the two shots were only causing minor wounds and not fatal ones; it was his ear and finger that got hit. Are these the work of professional sharpshooters, who did a lousy job? "America has got talents." Was that the work of talents?!
Besides, shortly before Trump got hit, he uttered something, which looked as if he was giving an encoded signal for the shooters that he was "ready" to be shot. Trump was calm – before and after being shot. Any normal behavior would show signs of surprise and panic. But Trump's reaction was that he was calm and defiant, vigorously raising his arm and shaking his fist. He didn't look like a victim at all.
Rather he looked more like a narrator than a tragic figure in front of the crowd gathered at Pennsylvania to show their support for him, and Trump did behave like a real hero. If this is not narcissism, then what is it!
Now if you switch the bloody scene from the United States to Taiwan (a runaway province of China), when Chan Sui Bien the DPP candidate was shot shortly before the election, and the bullet miraculously passed the skin of his stomach you may be amazed that the two characters have had so much in common – both in terms of mean character and demeaning behavior. People like these can fool voters once, or twice but certainly not for a long as a character is defined as a personality structure which is highly stable, and one can only hide the "true self" for so long, but not all the time! This is my immediate reaction.
And therefore, there are more consequential questions: In this uneventful event, who will get the most benefits? Joe Biden will get nothing, and Trump's supporters will hate Biden the more. And Trump will get all the attention that he was seeking.
Attention-seeking is and has always been Trump's consistent social behavior, which is in line with his narcissistic personality.
And, given the criminal cases piling up against him, Trump has "no choice" but to take the risk, by "shooting himself" not in the leg, but in the ear and finger.
As far as I am concerned, I would tell Mr. Trump, "You are fired for lousy acting as if you were viciously shot. But it all looked as if the whole thing was carried out based on the script of your own design."
Starting with the act of sharpshooting and ending with Trump's appearance after having been to the hospital, Trump looked more like a "hero" than a shocked and awed "victim" of an act of assassination.
Other questions also come to mind: If in the end, Trump loses the presidential election, would he likely reenact the January 6 Capitol Hill drama?! He has nothing to lose by doing so. Besides, it is consistent with his behavior that he would not take "No, for an answer."
All arguments and statements of evidence point to one suspect, and that is Trump the victim himself who has designed this "dump" act of showbiz, hoping to draw public attention, and honoring him as an instant hero.
If one adds all his acts and sayings since he began receiving public attention, one can well map out Trump's personality profile, which is anything but noble, heroic and patriotic.
Trump is money-minded: He would spend a handsome amount on anyone who is willing to play along according to his script.
Trump stands accused as a criminal: He will be brought to justice and shows up as a criminal unless he wins ultimately.
Donald Trump is manipulative: He and his pal Steve Bannon, who is now in jail, are both birds of the same dirty feather that flock together.
Trump thinks he can outsmart the American public, but America is a strong nation with tens of thousands of experts and scholars who are versed in personality or psychoanalysis. He cannot fool these scholars. As the dust settles down, the truth will become apparent.
Apart from the above conspiracy theory, another possibility is more likely: the assassin was young and impulsive as was the case in many incidents of gun violence on U.S. school campuses.
When put together, youthfulness and gun violence have become an unfortunate power symbol of America, whose mass-manufactured guns, are sold freely and failures to stop its gun violence, although many great efforts have been made to put an end to it.
To return to the heated presidential race, it is still unclear who has the upper hand as public opinion poll predictions have been proven wrong before. Remember the picture of President Harry Truman holding a local newspaper, showing that Dewey, his opponent was falsely reported to be the new U.S. president?
The day after the shooting incident, President Joe Biden held his "talk to the nation", sincerely pleading to the Americans to "lower the temperature" and bring sense back to America, saying "We are all Americans." He also said that he had telephoned Mr. Trump, his rival briefly, sending him his blessings and goodwill.
After the hurly-burly at the Pennsylvania mass rally, Mr. Trump pledged to hit the campaign trail as scheduled. And the fight continues.
"Who shot Trump?" Who cares! The alleged 20-year-old assassin is dead, not Donald.
Isn't this "much ado about nothing"? Characteristic of American politics.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
To contact the writer, please direct email:AugustusKYeung@ymail.com
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