Why today we are all MAGA

When Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981, his wound was not immediately noticed. It wasn’t until he started bleeding from the mouth that the car was diverted from the White House to the hospital. The story goes that upon arrival, the president said to the surgeons, “I just hope you’re Republicans.” A doctor is said to have replied: “Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.”

Americans have become increasingly fearful of political violence

Let’s hope this anecdote is never debunked. It’s too good a story: about Americans who did not hesitate to put their country before the politics that so often plagues it. The attack on Reagan was the last (known) assassination attempt on a president – until a few hours ago. The shots fired at President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania left him bleeding from the head. Two people have died. We don’t know the full details of the shooting yet, but from what can be seen on the video footage, it’s clear that the former president is very lucky to be alive.

There is only one appropriate response to such horrors. Today, we are all MAGA.

Or at least, most of us are. American politics has sunk so low into the cesspit of political despair, there will be a rare few who can’t bring themselves to say this. Rather than muster up the humor of Reagan, or the humanity of the doctors, they won’t hesitate to keep pouring petrol onto a nation already ablaze. Those takes won’t be received very well. If there is anything left tying America’s national fabric together, it’s that such instances of violence can’t be tolerated.

Trump’s biggest fans and biggest critics should not hesitate to come together on this issue. Some are already leading by example. Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney — a renowned NeverTrumper — writes on social media that he is “relieved the former president is safe and doing well.” Bernie Sanders wishes Trump “a speedy recovery.” They know full well tomorrow’s debates will still play out. Today, there is a moment for national unity.

And, perhaps, a moment for change. Americans have become increasingly fearful of political violence — the kind that has played out across the country, from the streets of Manhattan to Portland, over the past few years. Of course Republicans and Democrats aren’t going to start playing nice. But when small shops were boarding up their windows during the midterm elections in 2022, that might have been an indication that political discourse had gone a bit too far.

There is going to be a lot of pressure now for Democrats to tone down their rhetoric about Trump as a “dictator” and “despot”: the kind of words people use around the world to justify political uprisings. Critical questions put to the Democrats about what kinds of outcomes they expected when they referred to the former president as an “existential threat” to the United States.

Meanwhile, Republicans might stop referring to the current president as a “criminal.” Election results could be respected. Attempts to imprison political opponents could be wound down. As I wrote for this magazine in the spring, America, once a free and fair nation, is quickly acquiring the habit of prosecuting political opponents.

A Trump win in November has never seemed more likely. Voter frustration with the economy — and Biden’s debate implosion — already had the former president on a fairly straightforward path to victory. But this moment — symbolized by a bleeding Trump, standing with his fist in the air — is going to have more of an impact on voters than any debate or attack line ever could.

The nation must grapple with this possibility now, and prepare for how it will handle any outcome with civility. Or we can keep going as we have been — but we can no longer feign ignorance to how deadly the consequences are.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.