“There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen,” Lenin once said. I think America just experienced one of those weeks.

First, we had the Clooney op-ed in the New York Times imploring President Biden to bow out of the election, followed by speculation on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and other outlets that Obama was behind it all, followed by the unscripted press conference that Biden called to quell rumors about the decline of his cognitive ability, which had not even begun when he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Zelensky as “President Putin” at a NATO Summit. But all these will be minor footnotes in the annals of history compared with what happened at the end of the week.

Saturday, July 13, 2024. 6:15pm EST. Like the space shuttle Challenger, the OJ verdict, 9-11, and January 6th, I think it’s safe to say that most Americans will remember exactly where they were when they saw the footage of the attempted assassination of Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump. The speech, the shots, the screams, the blood, the raised fist, the chants of “USA!”

Twenty-four hours later, I’m sitting on the floor of my cell trying to process it all. The ripple effects. The crossroads at which our nation finds itself. The danger, the heroism, the firefighter dad who lost his life, the other two people who were critically injured, the shouts at the press, “You did this!”, the motive of the 20-year-old shooter, and above it all, the iconic image of the bloodied former President saying “Fight! Fight!” as he was whisked into the armored Beast by the Secret Service.

Lots to unpack.

But one thing feels certain here on the eve of the Republican National Convention. The bullet that miraculously grazed Donald Trump’s ear on Saturday evening was a direct hit on the already floundering Biden campaign.

—July 15, 2024