Red, white and blue USA flag flying infant of concrete building, representing Trump's Almost-Assassination

Emily Bird

The past month has proven a turbulent time for American politics. From Joe Biden’s performance in that political debate and announcement that he’s stepping down from the presidential race to Donald Trump’s almost-assassination.

After the assassination attempt against Trump, it’s safe to say politics in the United States has hit a turning point.

On 13th July, a man fired multiple shots toward the stage during the former President’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shots killed one spectator, critically injured two others and wounded Mr. Trump.

The monumental image seen worldwide of a blood-stained Trump punching the air with his fist has now become an integral part of the Republican campaign. But the three words that hold far greater weight are “fight, fight, fight.”

With the impact of recent events in the United States and worldwide, we have to ask whether the US is heading for a fight for or against democracy.

“It is clear that democracy … is in need of serious support”

Of course, this question is nothing new. Since attacks on 6th January, where five people were killed and many injured in the hope of preventing Biden’s presidency, a dark shadow has been cast over US politics. In an article published in The New York Times, it was noted that  69 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Republicans said that democracy was “in danger of collapse.” Of course, the two sides have very different opinions about the nature of the threat, but regardless, their concerns appear to eerily becoming a reality.

The Threat To Democracy

It’s safe to say that Trump’s chances of becoming president significantly increased since his assassination attempt, with The Economist placing him at a 5/6 chance of winning in the polls having spiked to a 46.9 per cent probability score. Democrats on the other hand have been predicted at 43.7 per cent.

Regardless of whether you’re a Trump supporter or not, it is clear democracy, the beating heart of US politics, is in need of serious support or it may flatline in the years to come.

“It is more important than ever that we stand by the pillars of democracy”

Many world leaders have expressed their disdain for violence in politics in reaction to the rally shooting. Leaders such as Georgia Meloni, Keir Starmer, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron highlighted the importance of protecting democracy ‘regardless of political affiliation’. Geert Wilders, however, targeted the left in his response, stating: “The hatred towards right-wing politicians is also unprecedented in our country.” While Wilders is an anomaly here, his sentiment is one shared by many and may well reflect where the campaign is heading.

Trump’s almost-assassination is creating a disparity between both US parties. We might start to see a more disjointed US than we’ve seen this century.

‘Fake News’

While many have little time for Trump’s politics, we cannot avoid the fact both sides share responsibility when it comes to extreme and damaging narratives in our news cycles.

For instance, The New Yorker takes the view that social media has played a part in the threat to democracy, describing our time as the ‘internet’s brain-rot era’. Although this ironically gives social media users very little intellectual credit, it seems we cannot avoid living in a world of extremes. As a result, there doesn’t appear to be enough time for nuance, creating compressed narratives that, just like mainstream media platforms, are more concerned with clicks than publishing well-rounded political views of current affairs.

“Voters are forgetting the power of democracy”

To a degree, social media platforms purely serve as outputs for news cycles. The main threat lies with AI.

Anyone who’s online will have heard Trump’s favourite coined phrase ‘fake news’ from his successful campaign in 2016. Since then it has proven a useful term to describe anything with which Trump himself disagrees. But technology has come a long way since then and, with AI now a publicly-accessible tool, it is our new source of all things meme-able.

The Guardian recently experimented with some of this technology to create an AI quiz of deepfakes featuring Trump and his former competitor Joe Biden. Alongside them are real audio clips of both former presidents. While some clips are easily distinguishable from the rest, many are difficult to tell apart. My score of 6/10 made me question much of the information I’ve seen online.

If a 25-year-old graduate is unable to decipher a deepfake from reality, I question what sort of an impact the spread of such information is having on the presidential race and the future of politics globally, even if much of what either party has to say is incomprehensible.

Political Legacies

Biden’s closing lines of his recent announcement: “There is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together,” is a message becoming more and more distant as the campaign goes on.

The political landscape has become one of extremes. Voters are forgetting the power of democracy. Instead they are taking the path leading to civil conflict – as 6th January showed. Sadly, such acts of violence within politics are becoming the norm, and not just in the US. Looking to the future, it is more important than ever that we stand by the pillars of democracy. Now the Democrats turn to Kamala Harris, whom the party must trust to bring back a sense of unity.

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Featured image courtesy of Brandon Mowinkle on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

I’m a modern languages graduate, currently completing an MA in Medieval Studies. I enjoy writing about politics, travel and languages and I hope you enjoy the reads!

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