It was a shocking scene.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet around his ear during an assassination attempt at a Trump presidential campaign stop on Saturday. You could hear people screaming as more shots rang out. Later, a bloodied Trump defiantly walked away from the scene.
Two people, including the shooter, were killed in the incident. Two more were injured.
There have been lots of discussions on a variety of topics since the incident, including how the shooter found himself in a position to fire on Trump, but there's one thing all sound-minded people should agree on: violence and threats against politicians need to come to an end.
I'm not a Trump fan. I'm not a fan of current U.S. President Joe Biden, either. I join those who question how a country like the U.S. – the most powerful nation on the planet, with a population of more than 330 million – can deliver those two as the candidates for president for the second straight election. If I had a vote for president, I'd be researching extensively on third-party candidates.
But Trump didn't deserve to be shot at, nor does he deserve to be threatened. Biden doesn't deserve it, either. Nor does any legitimately-elected official at any level in Canada or the U.S. or anywhere else.
It's becoming more difficult to be an elected official, regardless of whether it's the president of the U.S., the prime minister of Canada, the leader of an opposition party, an MP, MLA, governor, senator, mayor, reeve, councillor, school board trustee or anyone else.
Violence against politicians is nothing new. They've been victims of assassination attempts – both failed and successful – for centuries. But ask those who have been around for a long time, and they'll tell you the abuse and the threats are getting worse and more frequent.
Social media – and certain people who use these platforms – deserve much of the blame. Some people think they can post anything on Facebook, X, Tik Tok and elsewhere with impunity. They used some fabricated identity rather than attaching their real name to their comments.
For them, it's not just about criticism or trying to get a response. With the means they have to direct comments at people, they will make threats and libelous and slanderous comments.
(Social media platforms haven't exactly done much to deter this kind of embarrassing behaviour).
The sorts of comments that used to be kept to the privacy of someone's home, a phone call or possibly coffee row are now being aired in public.
It's not just elected officials that are getting the brunt of the abuse. Their families, their staff members and other employees are being targeted with false and abusive statements.
Some people will chant to have someone locked up for the heinous crime of disagreeing with them, while others want to have the government overthrown and have someone they like in power. Again, this isn't how democracy works.
Taking it one step further, we've also seen instances in which people have boycotted a business, or stopped supporting a non-profit, because of the involvement of an elected official. Granted, there are some truly egregious decisions that might require a boycott (such as a criminal action or an abuse of power) but often the boycott will be, again, because of the crime of disagreement.
We've also seen instances in which an elected official has been banned from a business because the owner doesn't agree with a decision.
None of these are healthy actions. I want to see talented, forward-thinking people running for elected positions. If an entrepreneur thinks being on council will negatively affect their business, it might deter that person from running. If someone thinks being on a school board might result in insults or even threats against their family, they might not run.
Perhaps the current polarized political climate in the U.S. is a factor in why Trump and Biden are the best the Republicans and the Democrats, respectively, can give us.
There's always room for disagreement, debate and constructive criticism in politics and democracy. The ability to disagree is vital to society. But it needs to happen in a thoughtful, informed fashion.
A lot of what we hear now is very troubling.
And when we see shots fired at a presidential candidate, it reminds us of how dangerous it can be for someone who wants to run for office.
