Eric isn’t the only one. Virtually every speaker at the RNC is suggesting that the Democrats tired to kill Donald Trump. Even though the guy who did it was a Republican. Philip Bump writes:
There is no evidence that Crooks shot at Trump because he had been influenced by anti-Trump political rhetoric, and there is no evidence that Crooks was literally or figuratively part of a collective effort to sideline or kill the former president.
It’s important to point this out explicitly because, in the days since the attack, allies of Trump have repeatedly suggested both that Democratic rhetoric is to blame or that the shooting was done by some nebulously defined “they” — a group that is generally meant to include Trump’s political opponents.
Speaking to Fox News host Laura Ingraham from the Republican National Convention on Monday night, Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) suggested that the shooting was a continuation of a pattern of hostility to the former president. “The bottom line is this: First, they tried to censor and silence President Trump. Then they tried to indict and imprison President Trump,” Mills said. “Now they tried to kill President Trump.”
Mills went on to suggest that, from his experience, “this seems intentional” — presumably meaning the security failures that allowed Crooks to open fire. On Tuesday morning, Mills made similar comments to right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk. (Mills also blamed diversity initiatives for unspecified reasons, saying, “D-E-I means D-I-E.”)
The congressman wasn’t Ingraham’s only guest to suggest that “they” tried to take out Trump.“They have done everything to strip him of his wealth and of his fame. They’ve tried to break up our family and done everything to try to get him and kill him,” Trump’s son Eric Trump said on the same program. “And they literally tried to kill him this week.” He made a similar claim on CNN on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier on Monday, former congressman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) suggested that calls for “unity” were dubious, given the moment. “My question, not trying to be cynical, is what is it going to take for that unity to last more than just one news cycle?” he asked. “They tried to kill the leading candidate for president!”
[…]
That framing is why all of this has emerged. Trump’s campaign has been centered on portraying him as a victim from the outset. That he was targeted by a shooter folds into that presentation neatly.
There’s just that one nagging little problem: There’s no known connection between the known shooter and the broad, nebulous galaxy of opponents Trump and his allies envision. Crooks wasn’t carrying a left-wing newspaper in his pocket or listening to a liberal podcast. He wasn’t a contract employee of the CIA or a staffer for the Justice Department. He wasn’t even a Democrat.
I haven’t noticed the media generally issuing a correction on this. They just say it and that’s that. At this point, for many people, it’s probably accepted as the truth.