Tangle - Trump survives an assassination attempt.

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

The Trump assassination attempt. On Saturday, former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Around six minutes into his remarks, gunshots rang out and Trump grabbed his right ear, dropping to the ground as Secret Service agents swarmed him. Moments later, Trump stood up surrounded by Secret Service with blood covering his ear and running down his face, raised his fist to the crowd, and mouthed “fight” multiple times. He was quickly led off stage and taken to a local hospital. On Saturday night, Trump posted on Truth Social “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” He was otherwise uninjured.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.Imagine this:There are over 100,000 people on this mailing list. If every person got one friend to sign up for Tangle, we could double our readership overnight. We have made it incredibly easy. All you have to do is click the button below and you'll get a pre-drafted email pitch — then you just type in a few friends or family member's email addresses and hit click and send. Give it a shot!You can catch our trailer for the Tangle Live event at City Winery NYC. Full video coming soon!Check out Episode 4 of our podcast series, The Undecideds.Please give us a 5-star rating and leave a comment!Today’s clickables: A couple of notes (0:39), Quick hits (2:50), Today’s story (5:08) Agreement and Left’s take (9:43), Right’s take (14:09), Isaac’s take (18:25), Listener Question (29:01), Under the Radar (30:06), Numbers (30:54), Have a nice day (32:07)You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: Who do you blame for the attempt on Donald Trump’s life? Let us know!Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, a place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and as you can probably guess, today we are going to be covering the Donald Trump assassination attempts. I am a little bit hoarse today. I was actually coaching my Ultimate Frisbee team over the weekend and yelling a lot, and then became very distracted over the weekend when news of this assassination attempt broke. So I'm excited

to talk about it today in my raspy, destroyed voice, because I have a lot of strong feelings about what happened and about some of the reactions to it. But as always, Tangle is not simply about my take, it's about a wide and diverse range of views. So we're going to begin today by explaining the story to you in the most neutral terms possible, and then sharing with you some perspectives from the left and the right. I'm about to pass it over to my colleague, John Lull, who's going to break down the main story for you. But before I do, I do want to give you a quick heads up on two things. First of all, on Friday, we published our long-awaited deep dive into Project 2025. It was quickly buried by what happened on Saturday, but if you are interested in that topic, you can find it on our website.

A good chunk of the piece is free for all, though you will run into a paywall to read my personal analysis and take on Project 2025. And then on Sunday, we publish an interview with Alain Gat on our podcast. Alain Gat was captured by Hamas on October 7th. He escaped, but his wife was brought into Gaza and held hostage for several weeks. She was then released, but his sister is still being held hostage in Gaza. He shared his harrowing first-person account of what happened that day on the podcast with us. It's the first interview I've done with anybody who was taken captive by

Hamas on October 7th. It's actually the first interview I've done with anybody who witnessed some of the atrocities of October 7th firsthand. So definitely an important, moving, scary story. But I think his story is one worth hearing. So if you want to check that out, it was posted on our podcast yesterday. So with that, I'm going to pass it over to John, and then I'll be back for my take. for my take. Thanks, Isaac. I'm actually kind of digging the raspy voice, not going to lie. Welcome, everybody. Here are your quick hits for today. First up, U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents prosecution case against former President Donald Trump in Florida, finding that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed. Number two, President Biden will

conduct a live interview with NBC's Lester Holt at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday night. Number three, the European Union charged X with several breaches of its 2022 Digital Services Act. Number four, Israel said it targeted Mohamed Daif, one of Hamas's top commanders, in an airstrike on Saturday. The strike killed at least 90 people and wounded over 300, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Daif reportedly survived the attack and remains active. And number five, an NBC poll released on Sunday that initially showed President Biden leading former President Trump by three percentage points was amended and corrected to show that

Trump was actually leading Biden by three percentage points. NBC said it an error with original polling documents. An assassination attempt. Former President Donald Trump ducks for cover as bullets start flying during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This evening we had what we're calling an assassination attempt against our former president, Donald Trump.

America is reeling tonight from an assassination attempt on Donald Trump. It happened at a rally in Pennsylvania when a gunman on a nearby roof evaded security and shot at Mr. Trump, who dived for cover. One member of the crowd was killed while protecting his family, and two others were injured. The gunman was subsequently shot and killed by the Secret Service. Donald Trump has called for Americans to stand united after the attack and President Biden has condemned it. There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized.

No exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized. On Saturday, former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Around six minutes into his remarks, gunshots rang out and Trump grabbed his right ear, dropping to the ground as Secret Service agents swarmed him. Moments later, Trump stood up, surrounded by Secret Service, with blood covering his ear and running down his face, raised his fist to the crowd, and mouthed, fight, multiple times. He was quickly let off stage and taken to a local hospital. On Saturday night, Trump posted on Truth Social, I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. He was otherwise uninjured. Secret Service snipers killed the shooter, who was positioned on a rooftop a few hundred feet from where Trump was speaking, after he fired an estimated eight

shots. One rally-goer, 50-year-old Corey Comparatore, was shot and killed by the gunman after moving to protect his wife and two daughters, according to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Two other people were wounded and are in stable condition. As a note, Tangle does not typically name shooters because of the documented contagion effect. However, in this case, we have decided to share the shooter's name given the historical significance of this event and the relevance of ongoing reporting about his identity. Authorities identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 years old, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The Federal Bureau of Investigation determined that he acted alone and found bomb-making materials in the car he drove to the rally, though they have not identified a motive. The FBI also shared that Crooks used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle purchased by his father, but said it was not clear how the younger

Crooks obtained the weapon. Records show he was a registered Republican but had donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration. Eyewitnesses outside the rally said they attempted to alert law enforcement to a man bear crawling up the side of the roof of a nearby building before the shooting began. The Secret Service is investigating how Crooks was able to access the roof, and Republican and Democratic lawmakers have called for investigations into the incident. The Department of Justice is investigating it as an act of domestic terrorism. President Biden addressed donation twice in the wake of the shooting. On Saturday, he delivered brief remarks condemning

the attack and all acts of political violence. On Sunday, he delivered an address from the Oval Office confirming that he had spoken with Trump and once again denouncing the attack. I'm sincerely grateful he's doing well in recovering, the president said. Jill and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers. Biden also announced that he has ordered an independent review of the security at the rally. The Republican National Convention begins today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump is expected to officially become the party's presidential nominee. The former president arrived in the city on Sunday and is slated to address the convention on Thursday.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said he had completely rewritten his speech after the shooting to focus more on national unity and less on his political opponents. Today, we'll share responses to the shooting from the left and the right, and then Isaac's take. We'll be right back after this quick commercial break. What Could Go Right is a weekly good news newsletter that combines intelligent analysis from over 100 scholars, writers, and innovators of all stripes who write underreported stories of progress from around the world. It's a weekly dose of optimistic ideas from smart people. Recent additions include new data shows a massive drop in poverty since 2000. 2,000-year-old ancient papyrus scrolls deemed charred logs are now readable thanks to this tech. People power, surprising global election results prove voters are having

their say. Let's create the future of our dreams instead of our fears. Discover the people, ideas, and news pointing the world in a positive direction. Readers of Tangle can sign up for free right now at theprogressnetwork.org. That's theprogressnetwork.org. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior

Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. First, let's start with some agreement. Virtually all commentators condemned the attack, expressing relief that Trump's injuries were relatively minor while mourning the loss of life at the rally. Most worry that the shooter will further inflame political tensions and call on both Democratic and Republican Party leaders to scale back their rhetoric. Many also remark that the media and American public have a responsibility to turn down the temperature of political discourse. All right, let's move to what the left is saying. The left is alarmed by the shooting, calling it an attack on American

democracy. Some frame it as the culmination of a rising tide of political violence in the U.S. Others question whether the attack will prove decisive in the election. The New York Times editorial board wrote, The attack on Donald Trump is antithetical to America. Any attempt to resolve an election through violence is abhorrent. Violence is antithetical to democracy. Ballots, not bullets, should always be the means by which Americans work through their differences, the board said. It is now incumbent on political leaders of both parties and on Americans individually and collectively to resist a slide into further violence and the type of extremist language that fuels it. Saturday's attack should not be taken as a provocation or a justification.

Democracy requires partisans to accept that the progress is more important than the results. Even before Saturday's events, there were worrying signs that many Americans are failing that essential test, the board wrote. Trump's political agenda cannot and must not be opposed by violence. It cannot and must not be pursued through violence. The attack on Saturday was a tragedy. The challenge now confronting Americans is to prevent this moment from becoming the beginning of a greater tragedy. The challenge now confronting Americans is to prevent this moment from becoming the beginning of a greater tragedy. In the New Republic, Michael Tomasky called the shooting the most shocking act of a shockingly violent age.

The attempt on Donald Trump's life is obviously a horrendous development. It seems unique because he's a presidential candidate and one of the most famous people in the world. But in many ways, it's not. Threats of political violence have increased dramatically in the United States, and support for political violence has risen recently by shocking levels, Tomasky said. There was the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise in 2017, the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Nancy, in 2022. Those are just the headline grabbers,

but political violence, or at least the threat of it, is now a constant in American life. Trump's own violent rhetoric is, for the time being at least, largely nullified by this act. The man who led an insurrection and made light of the attack on Paul Pelosi is politically inoculated, at least for now. In time, as memory of the event recedes and as the election nears, it may be that partisan passions reassert themselves and this event won't influence that many voters. But of course, Trump is already ahead, and the shooting certainly isn't going to hurt him politically, Tomasky wrote. The real fear, though, is escalation of violence

in a country with more guns than people. I'd write that we're about to enter a very dark period, but in fact, we entered it long ago, and there's no end in sight. But in fact, we entered it long ago, and there's no end in sight. In Vox, Andrew Prokop asked, Will Trump's shooting change everything or surprisingly little? For much of this year, there's been low interest in political news on both sides of the aisle. But there have been questions about whether Trump's base in particular was less mobilized than they were in years prior. That began to change after Trump's criminal conviction on May 30th, which unleashed a massive

surge in donations to Trump's campaign that erased Biden's cash edge. Perhaps the assassination attempt on Trump will be a similar catalyst, Prokop said. Regardless of the facts around the shooting, the conspiracy theories around it will inevitably be twisted to advance the narrative that they, Democrats, the media, shadowy powers that be, wanted this to happen and are in some way responsible for it. It is a long time between now and November 5th, 2024. Many other events will consume the news between now and then. Just last week, the biggest political story was whether Joe Biden could hold on to the nomination. It is very far from clear that this is the one event that will loom over the rest of a campaign

that is still a ways from concluding, Prokop wrote. As shocking as this event was, the vast majority of voters have long made up their views about Trump and seem quite unlikely to change their minds because of his injury. If there is a short-term sympathy bounce for Trump, it may not last. All right, that is it for what the left is saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. The right is similarly horrified by the attack, but many hope Trump can turn it into a unifying moment for the country. Some blame anti-Trump messaging on the left for contributing to a culture of political violence. Others say Trump will emerge stronger from the shooting. The Wall Street Journal editorial board suggested the attack could be a redemptive political moment. The assassination attempt against Donald Trump on Saturday evening is a horrific moment for America that could have been much worse. But we can't say it comes as a

complete surprise. Political hostility and hateful rhetoric has been rising to a decibel level that far too often in the American past has led to violence and attempted murder, the board wrote. It's nothing short of miraculous that Mr. Trump avoided death by a literal inch. The former president can't help but think that Providence played some role in sparing him. The country was spared, too, from what could have been a furious cycle of retribution. Leaders on both sides need to stop describing the stakes of the election in apocalyptic terms. Democracy won't end if one or the other candidate is elected. Fascism is not a born if Mr. Trump wins, unless you have little

faith in American institutions, the board said. If they weren't already, Americans after Saturday will be looking for stable, reassuring leadership. The photo of Mr. Trump raising his fist as he was led off stage by the Secret Service with a bloody face was a show of personal fortitude that echoed through the campaign. His opportunity now is to present himself as someone who can rise above the attack on his life and unite the country. In Fox News, David Marcus asked, what did the hard left expect after years of hateful anti-Trump rhetoric? It's long been a staple of the stump speech for President Joe Biden to compare Donald Trump and his supporters to the Nazis and his fellow Democrats in the liberal media eagerly amplifying the ratcheted up rhetoric. Now, sadly, but predictably, this kind of talk has gotten somebody killed, Marcus wrote.

this kind of talk has gotten somebody killed, Marcus wrote. At 8 p.m. the night before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Biden posted on X, Americans want a president, not a dictator. It isn't just Biden. For nearly a decade, Democrats have been ratcheting up the rhetoric and marching the nation towards this political violence. In the wake of the near killing of a former president and leading candidate today, you will hear solemn voices in the liberal media, the same ones who days ago gave high-pitched warnings about the unique danger Trump poses, saying this is a problem on both sides. No, it isn't. There may be fringe elements of the American right who dehumanized the left with such rhetoric, but it is the very coin of the realm for progressives. It is the mainstream media that has all but called for Donald Trump to be taken out,

Marcus said. Democrats understand this is not tenable, that they are still inviting more and more violence. In PJ Media, Scott Pinsker wrote about how the Trump assassination attempt changes the presidential campaign. When something profoundly shocking and emotionally uncomfortable happens, we psychologically deal with it in piecemeal fashion because it's just too big and overwhelming to comprehend all at once. So we first tried to analogize the attempt on Trump's life by comparing and contrasting it to other events. But these analogies failed to capture the sheer magnitude of what we all witnessed, Pinsker wrote. In part, it was different because Trump is different. Trump is an expert at forging personal relationships with large swaths of people via media platforms. But more than anything else, it's today's culture that fueled this tense

and one-on-one familiarity. Trump isn't just someone we watch, he's someone we personally know. And last night, the American people saw someone they personally know get shot in the frickin' head on live television, Pinsker wrote. The sharpest colors draw the cleanest contrasts, but now the language Biden can use freely in public discourse

has been dulled. Before, Biden was demonizing the devil. Now, he'll be demonizing not just a man, but a man who deserves our sympathy, respect, and admiration. Biden has built his brand as a likable family man who's simply a nice guy. Alas, he'll have to sacrifice that image if and when he demonizes a man who just stared the Reaper in the eye. All right, let's head over to Isaac for his take. All right, that is it for what the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. First and foremost, I am glad that President Trump is okay. I say that for obvious reasons, but reasons important enough to state in full. Political violence is an abhorrent way to resolve ideological issues.

Donald Trump is a husband and father, and no candidate in our country should fear being shot in the head for their politics. Furthermore, if Trump had been killed, the consequential political turmoil and violence would have been historic, deadly, cyclical, and could have irredeemably broken our country. I'm also thinking of and praying for the family members of the rallygoers who were killed and injured. While Trump was mostly unharmed, it is important to remember that someone was murdered on Saturday. A father who died shielding his family from gunfire.

Others are still recovering in the hospital. Since I'm a political analyst, I know many of you are opening today's podcast expecting me to analyze. I have a job to do, and so I'll do it. I think this event is going to help Donald Trump's candidacy. It will make Trump harder to attack, make him tantamount to a martyr, and confirm the right's worst fears about how the rest of the country views them. It will guarantee every Trump supporter is a Trump voter, and in a close election, maximizing voter turnout matters. I'm also cognizant of the fact that this election is still four months away. I've warned listeners repeatedly to remember that this will not be the last gigantic news story. I said that after the recent debate,

and after Trump's conviction, and after the special counsel report on Biden's mental state, and after a half dozen other major stories that everyone thought would make a huge difference, and I say it again today. Granted, it's hard to imagine anything bigger than this, but bigger things inevitably do happen. And of course, I'm aware that many of you want me to assign some blame. Who's at fault for something like this? Unsurprisingly, I think there is plenty of blame to go around, all secondary to the shooter himself. Hysterical media outlets have been telling their disparate audiences for years that the other candidate is going to destroy their lives and turn everything they love into ash.

The New Republic runs cover images of a half-Trump, half-Hitler face. Fox News suggests to viewers that Biden is inviting immigrants into the country to rape their daughters. Both sides have turned the volume up as loud as possible. And while we don't know the shooter's motives, no one has the moral high ground to express shock at an act of political violence. Some Democrats, like former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, tell voters that Trump is more dangerous than Hitler and Mussolini.

I sure wish someone had killed Hitler before he murdered six million Jews, so it's not hard to imagine someone believing that statement and connecting the dots into action. Representative Maxine Waters, the Democrat from California, has told her supporters to harass Trump administration officials anytime they show themselves in public. Even President Biden has warned voters that Trump is an aspirational dictator whom the Supreme Court just greenlit to kill his political opponents, take bribes, and lead a coup with total immunity. Quote, literally a threat to everything America stands for.

End quote. Who might not take up arms to stop that? If Democrats believe their own rhetoric, why would they have any sympathy about the attempt on Trump's life? Killing the person they're describing would actually be justified. And if they don't believe Trump is an aspirational mass murderer, maybe they can stop the rhetoric? And Republicans have no space at all to lecture Democrats on divisive or threatening rhetoric. Representative

Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican from Georgia, has called for Obama to be executed and is running political ads of herself literally shooting a car with a rifle and making it explode while she talks about Joe Biden. Then she lectures Democrats on political rhetoric. Representative Mike Collins, a Republican from Georgia, has told his followers that Biden sent the orders to shoot Trump, a falsehood so inflammatory and unhinged that the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board dedicated a whole editorial to criticizing it. There are endless examples of Republicans glorifying guns or wink-winking at political violence or insisting to their supporters they better be ready to take up arms and fight. And then there is the victim himself, Donald Trump, who mocked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after her husband was brutally beaten with a hammer in a politically motivated kidnapping attempt.

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., joked about wearing a Paul Pelosi Halloween outfit while the man was still recovering. Trump has repeatedly used violent rhetoric at campaign rallies. He, in part, encouraged the events of January 6th, has glorified weapons, and consistently accuses Democrats of being perverts and child molesters, all deranged political rhetoric that feeds into the perception not just of partisan division, but partisan war. However, at the top of the blame pyramid is the shooter himself, a young, white, registered Republican his classmates remember as a bullied loner who almost certainly held right-wing views. He also donated to a liberal super PAC,

has an almost entirely non-existent political footprint, and is so young he has never voted in a presidential election and hardly ever posted about politics on social media. That all makes it hard for either side to pigeonhole the worst actor in this drama as part of the other team. It's worth remembering that violent actors often have motivations we cannot even begin to fathom. Partisans on the right would like the shooter to be a diehard progressive to prove their worst fears about the left true. Partisans on the left would like him to be a MAGA Trumper so they can indulge themselves in self-serving conspiracies that the shooting was staged for Trump's political gain or a symbol of the unhinged people Trump has

drawn to the fore. Few of us remember that the man who attempted to kill Ronald Reagan did so because he wanted to impress actress Jodie Foster. Yet we all prefer to jump to conclusions in the first minutes of an incredibly complex event like this. There's still more blame to go around. We could blame the Secret Service and local police, whose response was agonizingly slow, even as attendees of the rally pointed the shooter out on the roof for at least a minute. We could blame the shooter's dad, who owned the gun that his son took or was gifted without much trouble. I could keep doing this. I could keep analyzing and dissecting and making obvious points that our broken punditry seems keen

on ignoring. But I'd honestly like to stop now, to say something else. It occurs to me that nearly 110,000 people read my emails every day, and that thousands more listen to this podcast. Tangle readers and listeners are, in some ways, a team. A team committed to an ideology, founded on considering views we may not like, a team of people willing to have their minds changed, a team that is open to a diversity of opinion. And as a collective, we could look around after an event like this and assign blame,

find motivations, call out the various political factions, and make ourselves feel good and high-minded and, best of all, correct. Or we could do something different. We could look in the mirror, look inward, think about our own roles in this great, big, messy country.

If I have a message for you, it is this. We are on the precipice. We, the people, are standing at the end of a diving board looking down into a great, vast pool of darkness, a pool we could collectively decide to jump into with no return trip scheduled. Some people believe we've already left. I do not.

I think there is still time. Time to turn around, to reconsider, to choose a different path. President Biden addressed the nation twice in 24 hours and pledged to walk the other way and return to something better. He temporarily pulled his ads against Donald Trump and vowed to pivot his campaign to one that appeals to our better angels. Donald Trump has promised the same, saying he is already rewriting his speech for the RNC, believes he was saved by divine intervention,

and views this as an opportunity to bring the country together. It's easy to be cynical about both candidates' promises and how long any truce will last. I am cynical, but I'll express my sincere wish that they follow through on something different. In the meantime, we can do the same. We could actually lead our leaders, show them who we are and what we want. We can talk to our neighbors, the people we disagree with. We can look for humanity in our political rivals and even our enemies, in Donald Trump and Joe Biden, yes, but also in your angry, gun-toting MAGA uncle or your insufferable, politically correct, resist-yard sign neighbor. Better yet, we could abandon these caricatures of the other side entirely, refuse to play ball on the binary field of blue and red, and turn our own rhetoric down in our daily lives and genuinely try to

understand or engage the other. We can blame the people we already hate, or we can take individual responsibility. I am going to try my best to do my part, to speak plainly and honestly about our country and its political candidates in this newsletter. I will not spare words or throw softballs for the sake of unity, but I will refuse to exaggerate, inflame, or sensationalize when there is already enough awful going around. My pledge is to do this work, but to do it realistically, humanely, and with compassion. Not the kind of compassion that valorizes evil or assumes the best intentions of bad actors, but the kind of compassion that genuinely tries to understand

the perspectives of people I feel furthest from. That approach has always been core to Tangle's mission, but events like this build my resolve to double down. I'm going to walk back from the edge, and I'm going to ask that you walk with me, away from the vast pool of darkness, if we can. On Saturday afternoon, someone tried to kill Donald Trump. He came shockingly close.

An inch or two and the entirety of the country would have been pushed into a political tailspin that may have required decades to recover from. We should all be grateful it didn't happen, and we absolutely must take advantage of the opportunity now afforded to us. I'd very much prefer we did not waste it. We'll be right back after this quick break.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot.

Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. All right, that is it for today's My Take.

Before I pass it back to John, I want to end with a simple message or request. I hope that you find today's coverage emblematic of the hard work we try to do at Tangle. If you are someone who is genuinely interested in this, in pulling our country back from the precipice, I believe one of the best ways to do it is to get people out of the media bubbles they exist in. This is quite literally the very reason I created this podcast. You can do that by simply sending this podcast to friends and telling them to follow us. If you are not yet a Tangle member, please subscribe to support our work. You can do that by going to readtangle.com forward slash membership, and in the near future, I hope to

have podcast memberships so you can get ad-free podcasts. That is something getting closer and closer to becoming a reality. Tangle subscribers for now, unlock Friday and Sunday editions and ad-free newsletters and the comments section on our website. Thank you for listening to our show, and now back to John for the rest of the pod. Thank you, Isaac. Here's your Under the Radar story for today, folks. A year ago, Georgia launched the first-ever Medicare plan to include a work requirement. By now, officials hoped it would be providing health insurance to 25,000 low-income residents and potentially tens of thousands more. Instead, the program has accrued only 4,300 members, much fewer than expected,

and a fraction of the half a million state residents who could be covered if Georgia, like 40 other states, undertook a full Medicare expansion. Governor Brian Kemp has blamed the Biden administration for delaying the program's start, while critics say the results are proof the work requirement is too burdensome. The Associated Press has this story, and there's a link in today's episode description.

All right, next up is our numbers section. The number of Wisconsin police departments and sheriff's offices that are providing security assistance for the Republican National Convention this week is 75. The estimated number of law enforcement agencies that will be assisting security efforts is 63. The approximate number of threats made against lawmakers in 2016 is 900, according to the Capitol Police. The approximate number of threats made against lawmakers in 2017 is 3,900. The approximate number of threats made against lawmakers in 2020 was 8,600. The approximate number of threats made against lawmakers in 2020 was 8,600. The approximate number of threats made against lawmakers in 2021 was 10,000. The approximate percentage increase

in campaign spending on security by House and Senate candidates between 2020 and 2022 is 500%. The percentage of Americans who agree that, because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country is 23 percent, according to a 2023 Public Religion Research Institute survey. And the percentage of Americans who agreed that political violence was necessary to save the country in 2021 is 15%. And last but not least, our Have a Nice Day story. Gallup's Global Emotions poll has indicated that stress has decreased globally, while positive emotions and experiences have increased. Four Latin American nations have the highest positive experiences in the poll. Paraguay, Panama, Guatemala, and Mexico. Of these nations,

Gallup Global News editor Julia Ray noted that the situation can be crumbling around you, but we still see positivity. Safety was an issue, but you have this strong presence of social networks. Time has this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, please go to retangle.com and sign up for a membership. As Isaac mentioned at the top, there is a special Friday edition

that is covering Project 2025, if you haven't gotten a chance to read that yet. And we posted a podcast yesterday featuring an interview with Alain Gat, a survivor of the October 7th attack. He describes the horrific events and the harrowing journey that him and his family have gone through and are continuing to go through. Hope you get a chance to check out both the piece and the interview, and we'd love to know your thoughts. We'll be right back here tomorrow. For Isaac and the rest

of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day, y'all. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited and engineered by John Law. The script is edited by our managing editor, Ari Weitzman, Will Kabak, Bailey Saul, and Sean Brady. The logo for our podcast was designed by Magdalena Bokova, who is also our social media manager. Music for the podcast was designed by Magdalena Bokova, who is also our social media manager. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75.

If you're looking for more from Tangle, please go to readtangle.com and check out our website.