Opinion | Gunshot at Trump, Biden Collapses Instead

Yuan Media's Op-ed

By Editorial Board

Political violence is becoming increasingly frequent, and this year is no exception. Donald Trump, who incited the mob to attack the Capitol, was this time the target of a desperado. A bullet nearly killed him but simultaneously seemed to secure his presidency.

The image of Trump with blood running down the side of his face, his fist proudly in the air as he mouthed "Fight" to the crowd, is already iconic. To his die-hard fans, it's also heroic. From their perspective, Trump was saved by God and will undoubtedly become more courageous. To them, it means he is the chosen one.

On another podium, Joe Biden, the other presidential candidate, was babbling and wobbling, making him look like a living dead. Under these circumstances, the choices for voters are not between good and evil but between death and life.

Perhaps you still recall the most popular political news stories in the weeks leading up to the assassination attempt. Most of them revolved around the dispute among Democrats about whether Biden should step aside. Now, is this topic still hot? I don’t think so. The debate seems unnecessary now. Many have come to realize that whether Biden stays in the presidential race or not, the Democrats' chances of securing the presidency look grim.

The AR-style rifle opened fire at Trump, but Biden collapsed instead.

The President of the United States is supposed to be the most influential person in the world, without a doubt. The fact that our choices are limited to two elderly men in their 80s, one radical and the other withered, is already a sad reality that no one wants to face. After the assassination attempt, it seems we don't even have a choice anymore, which is truly frustrating.

During the past week's Republican National Convention, all eyes were on Trump. While JD Vance, the Vice Presidential candidate, did capture public attention for a moment, he was merely a sidebar to Trump. People cared about him only because he was the bulldog cherry-picked by Trump, nothing else.

Others, such as Trump’s former contenders Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, also showed up, but only to express that they were back on the Trumpy track. They have surrendered to Trump and endorsed him. Their appearances were nothing more than a display of support for Trump. Otherwise, they won’t have a pathway forward within the Republican Party because, by all means, the Republican Party is currently Trump’s party.

What concerns us is whether America will become Trump’s nation if he is elected as the next President.

What will the US become with Trump getting back in power? We can get some hints from the Project 2025 which was released last week by the Heritage Foundation.

Cut the Education Department, control over the Justice Department, retreat the military from overseas, crack down on even legal immigration, and propose extremely high tariffs... Moreover, reasonable abortion and climate change protections will likely be eliminated.

Though Trump insisted that neither he nor his campaign had anything to do with Project 2025, some of the people who wrote it used to be in his administration. They asserted that Project 2025 was written following Trump's ideas and was intended to serve as a blueprint for him if he becomes president again. It seems like a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma.

Let’s set aside bipartisan politics and take the policies seriously. Are the aforementioned policies close to our hearts? If implemented, will they benefit all Americans across the country? Can America become great again and strengthen its global position following these policies?

The United States was founded by people who could not tolerate the imperial or religious oppression in their home countries. They escaped to the New World, working hard with calloused hands and feet. The Founding Fathers meticulously designed the political system to create a country with true freedom and democracy, casting off the shackles of oppression and liberating minds.

After nearly 250 years, how can we, as Americans living in a country that has achieved world’s best cultural and technological progress, continue to uphold the ideology of our Founding Fathers to preserve the foundation of the United States?

It’s not extremely hard, but we must remember: America belongs to all Americans, not to any one individual. No matter who is elected, they become president, not emperor. The country belongs to each and every one of us, not just to him or her. We contribute our expertise to our fields, actively engage in civic duties, appreciate our civil rights, and make our voices heard in policymaking. This is how we preserve the foundation of U.S. democracy and ensure stability, regardless of which old folk is elected or removed.