Trump blows assassination attempt WIDE OPEN
Trump blows assassination attempt WIDE OPEN
David Pakman dissects a furious online rant by Donald Trump following a series of legal setbacks, most notably a Supreme Court decision rejecting a late-stage push to alter mail-in voting rules involving the U.S. Postal Service. Instead of addressing the legal merits, Trump lashed out at the conservative-majority court, accusing justices of being "petrified" of Democrats. More alarmingly, Trump used the ruling as a springboard to promote a explosive, unverified conspiracy theory regarding the 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania. Read the full breakdown below.
1. The Supreme Court Rant and Mail-In Voting
Following the Supreme Court's ruling against implementing last-minute mail-in ballot changes, Trump took to social media to denounce the decision, claiming it opens the door for widespread Democratic cheating. He asserted that the U.S. is the "only country" that has to endure mail-in voting—a claim Pakman notes is entirely false, as postal voting is common in numerous democracies.
Trump also attacked the justices he appointed himself, claiming they are terrified of the radical left. Pakman points out the blatant double standard: when the 6-3 conservative court rules in Trump's favor, he praises them as courageous, but the moment they rule against him, they are branded as cowards. Trump further complained that Supreme Court rulings on tariffs and birthright citizenship are costing the country trillions, while ignoring the basic economic reality that tariffs are paid by domestic importers and consumers, not foreign nations.
2. The Butler Assassination Conspiracy Theory
The most dangerous portion of Trump's rant, according to Pakman, was his pivot to the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump claimed without evidence that the "Crooked Joe Biden FBI" deliberately left information missing, altered, or corrupted, declaring that the shooting was actually a "Democrat plot to get me out of the election." He also demanded that former FBI Director Christopher Wray "pay a price."
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Pakman thoroughly dismantles this narrative, noting that extensive investigations—including roughly a thousand FBI interviews, a review of the shooter's digital footprint, and a bipartisan congressional investigation—uncovered zero evidence of a co-conspirator or a political plot. While investigators acknowledged security failures by the Secret Service and local law enforcement, a failure in protection is a far cry from a fabricated Democratic assassination conspiracy.
3. Distracting From Unfulfilled Promises
Pakman concludes by putting Trump's conspiracy theories into a broader political context. Rather than focusing on pressing domestic issues or the mounting failures of his administration's major campaign promises—such as ending the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours, keeping the Middle East entirely free of new conflicts, or achieving 5-6% GDP growth—Trump resorts to grievance politics and explosive accusations. Pakman argues that pushing a baseless narrative about an assassination plot serves primarily as a smoke screen to distract from unfulfilled policy commitments and legal defeats.
