The recent attempted assassination attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump was an event that should give us all pause. The rhetoric has grown to a fever pitch. I think that much of the blame for this lies with progressives of all shapes and sizes and the national Democratic party. For the last three and one-half years they were joined by the current administration.

From the moment Trump announced his candidacy that day in 2015 Democrats and progressives, and Republican “never Trumpers” were out for his scalp. Before this Trump was known as a leading investor and developer in the New York City real estate market and an investor and promoter of other ventures from beauty pageants to golf courses. A celebrity and man about town he was well known as were his peccadillos unlike the case with many career politicians who often are to bury their failings

Trump won in 2016 because Americans were looking for someone and something different. In the process, he scared a lot of the coastal elites, Washington insiders, those who became “never Trumpers” and the faceless bureaucrats that actually run our nation from day to day, the same people who until recently forced fishing boat operators to pay a $700 a day fee for government observers to see they observed federal rules on fishing.

Not only was he a businessman but he also espoused populist ideas that have always struck fear in the above types of people. Populism is seen as an approach to politics that sees “the people” as being opposed to “the elites” The term developed in the late 19th century and since then has been applied to various politicians, parties and movements. There was the Prairie Populism of the 1890s followed in the 1930s by a form of populism espoused by Sen. Huey Long, more recently a form promoted by Gov. George Wallace, and currently a socialist populism championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

From the first day of his administration, he was under constant attack. Hillary Clinton accused him of colluding with Russia to steal the election from her leading to the “Mueller investigation” that lasted during the first half of his administration and was nothing more than a sham. He was impeached twice on the flimsiest of grounds and just prior to the 2020 election the Hunter Biden laptop that contained information that very likely would have changed the election result was declared to be “Russian disinformation” by 51 individuals who saw nothing wrong in lying to the American people.

He lost the 2020 election and questioned the election results. Now I think there was certainly skullduggery by certain Democratic operatives in several states, but the Trump campaign received bad advice, should have been more focused and done its homework before it accused people. President Trump should never have requested Vice President Mike Pence to halt the certification of the electoral vote, something he obviously had no authority to do. Had he followed the example of Richard Nixon, who in 1960 had evidence that Chicago voting machines, that might have changed the election result, lay at the bottom of Lake Michigan but did nothing for the good of the nation, Trump might have come out looking better.

Trump returned to private life. Then on Nov. 15, 2022, he announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for President In 2024. Suddenly state attorney generals and district attorneys appeared out of the woodwork seeking indictments against the former President for over valuing properties on loan applications, improper classifications of business expenses and mishandling of government documents. If his name had not been Trump and if he had not sought reelection, it’s a certainty that these indictments would never have been filed. What became known as lawfare was likely orchestrated by the Biden Justice Department at the behest of the Biden White House.

Trump was convicted of 34 felonies created out of “whole cloth” in a trial where the judge, and the district attorney worked actively to deny him due process. In the national press he was the victim of calumnious statements that portrayed him as Hitler and Mussolini. President Joe Biden, other Democrats, and a complicit national press felt no compunction against stirring up their base by portraying him as a fascist, a potential dictator supported by radical MAGA Republicans and the greatest threat ever to our democracy.

American politics is not for the faint of heart or the thin skinned. Vitriol, hyperbole, “red meat” statements and lies have always been a part of American politics. Most of us ignore a lot of what politicians say because it’s “campaign talk.” But if a politician is continuously compared to Hitler, called a potential dictator or a threat to our democracy, unfortunately a confused and impressionable individual like Thomas Crooks might feel justified in taking action to destroy the target of these slurs. This is what may have driven Thomas Crooks to attempt to take the life of Donald Trump.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com