Reuters World News - Trump's attempted assassination, Biden’s message and the race for the White House

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

Donald Trump is in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention just two days after an attempt on his life. A bullet grazed the former president’s ear, one rally goer was killed, and the suspect shot dead at the scene.  With tensions already running high in the 2024 election race, we look at how the attempt on Trump’s life will impact the RNC this week, as well as the campaign in the months ahead.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, an act of political violence shakes the U.S. The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has upended the presidential race just as Republicans gather in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. On today's Reuters World News, what we know about the attack, the shooter, and what it means for the race. It's July 15th. I'm David Spencer in London. 11 minutes past 6 on Saturday evening. Donald Trump is speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when shots are fired. The former president touches his ear and takes cover.

Then panic and chaos. Security charged the stage. There are shouts and screams from the crowd. He's on top of the roof. Don't go over there. He's on the roof. Moments later, the suspect is shot dead, the all-clear given. Trump emerges from a tight huddle with his security team, his face bloody,

and then raises a fist in the air, shouting, fight, fight, fight, as the crowd erupts into cheers. Donald Trump is then taken to his car, still raising his fist. He was struck in the ear, but not seriously hurt, and is now in Wisconsin for the Republican Convention. Speaking to US media, Donald Trump said the bullet that grazed his ear could have easily killed him, adding, quote, I'm supposed to be dead, I'm not supposed to be here. One person in the crowd was killed and two others wounded.

The rally attendee who died was Corey Comparator, who officials said died trying to protect his family from the hail of bullets. In a moment, what we know about the shooter and Joe Biden's message to America, following the attempted assassination. But first, our U.S. producer Jonah Green caught up with political reporter James Oliphant on Sunday as he was heading to Milwaukee to discuss how this impacts the election campaign. So tensions were already pretty high in the U.S., especially surrounding this election. What does something like this do to the campaign now?

I don't think we really know how this is going to affect the presidential race. for a number of reasons. Initially, we saw a lot of Republican allies of Trump sort of jump to conclusions and make some outrageous accusations at Democrats and Biden and suggesting that they were somehow behind this. We have seen more of a cry for calm from people like Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, some people within the Trump campaign. And Trump himself, at least not yet, has resorted, he has not resorted to blaming anybody. So we're in a situation right now where there's a lot of potential where Trump supporters to become inflamed or in rage. This goes along with the narrative that Trump has always tried to sell them, which is someone's out to get me. And since

they're out to get me, they're out to get you. What does it mean for voters? I really don't know. And I've been thinking a lot about this because the natural thing to say is, oh, there's going to be a in sympathy for Trump. We saw this way back in 1981 with, say, Ronald Reagan when he was shot in Washington. But I'm a firm believer that campaigns generally revert

to their standard selves for long, and certainly with this race, we've seen the hush money trial, his conviction, we've seen the debate, and the parameters of the race have not shifted dramatically. And I still, even as incredible and frightening as Saturday was,

it's hard to see a gigantic movement in this electorate. And just go back to the initial response, some lawmakers, Republican lawmakers initially said that Democrats' rhetoric was to blame. So at this point, that's not the party line? That is not the predominant response today that we are hearing from the Trump campaign, from senior Republicans. They are trying to lower the temperature. They know the potential exists for perhaps more violence. And they're going to their convention. This is a very choreographed affair that is supposed to culminate. It's a lot of people feeling good about the nominee. And the last thing they want is it to be marred by episodes of violence from either side.

The shooter has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Pennsylvania. Little is known about him, but he worked as a nursing home aide. The FBI says that his social media profile does not contain threatening language, nor have they found any history of health issues. They said he acted alone and have not identified a motive. Crooks lived about an hour from where the shooting occurred and was a registered Republican, but as a 17-year-old made a $15 donation to a Democratic Party cause. Around the world, leaders were quick to condemn the shooting. Justin Trudeau said he was sickened and Germany's Olaf Schultz called it despicable. In Japan, where the former Prime Minister Shenzhou Abe was assassinated almost exactly two years ago,

Prime Minister Fulmiel Kishida said countries must stand firm against any form of violence that challenges democracy. And that was a message emphasized by President Joe Biden, as he addressed the country from the White House on Sunday. I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics. And to remember, or we may disagree, We agree, we are not enemies. We're neighbors. We're friends, coworkers, citizens.

And most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together. This was only the third time since taking office that Joe Biden has used the formal setting of the Oval Office to make a statement to Americans. In a seven-minute address, he said the shooting, quote, calls on all of us to take a step back. You know, the political record in this country has

gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that. Yes, we have deeply felt strong disagreements. The stakes in this election are enormously high. Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy. It's part of human nature. But politics must never be a literal battlefield, God forbid, a killing field. The Biden campaign had been seeking to reset its message depicting Donald Trump as a danger to democracy for his persistent false claims about election fraud. But on Saturday, it suspended its political advertising. James Oliphant explains how this affects the Democrats campaigning. One interesting side effect of this is that we've been spending a few weeks focused on President Biden and his fitness for the job. And now that has become secondary.

It'll be interesting to see if Democrats now stand down, some of the ones that have called on Biden to set aside. If they now just say, we don't need this sort of conflict and tension right now. Yeah. And they may back down. But this does complicate Democrats' ability to campaign against Trump, at least right now. Yes, this does complicate what Democrats are trying to do. But at the same time, this is the week of the Republican convention. Typically, Democrats are off stage this week anyway.

Yeah. And this is the Republican show, at least traditionally, you know, the parties used to let the other one have their week. We may see increased ratings. I think people may want to see Trump, see how he responds to this. Looking at how the attempted assassination is driving markets, traders have been buying the U.S. dollar and Bitcoin and selling longer term U.S. treasuries. These are the so-called Trump victory trades. Futures for 10-year treasuries slipped, pointing to higher yields. The prospect of a Trump win pushes them higher, in part because of an assumption his economic policies would add to inflation and debt. Protesters marching in the West Bank on the weekend.

After an Israeli airstrike killed at least 91 people in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza. It was one of the deadliest attacks in weeks. Israel said Saturday's attack in Han Yunus was targeting Hamas' militiam. military chief Mohammed D'Afe. Hamas says Israeli claims that it was targeting leaders of the group of false and aimed at justifying the attack. After a bumper sports weekend, double celebrations in Spain. 21-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcoraz won his second Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic in the final for the second year in a row. And Spain clinched a 2-1 victory over England as they won the Euro soccer final in Berlin. At the Copper America, Argentina retained their title,

beating Colombia 1-0 in Miami. For the very latest on the shooting and developments in the presidential race as they happen, keep an eye on the Reuters app or Reuters.com. And to make sure you never miss an episode of Reuters World News, subscribe on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.