The angry, divisive fallout of the Trump shooting in Butler County

The Washington Post ^ | September 9, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT | Tim Craig

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The assassination attempt has pitted Democrats and Republicans against each other in a way that one historian calls “outright frightening.”

BUTLER, Pa. — One of the city’s most famous artists has created a 400-pound sculpture of Donald Trump raising his fist in the air, capturing the moment that split this Pennsylvania community in two. Digital billboards blaming Democrats and the media for the assassination attempt still flash around town. And supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris say they’re routinely heckled.

The long-simmering tensions in Butler that erupted after a gunman shot Trump in the ear at a rally have yet to cool nearly two months later. The former president’s infamous words after being hit — “fight, fight, fight” — have in some ways been adopted as the city’s motto as both sides dig in and try to ensure that their candidate wins enough votes here to capture a key battleground state.

“The statue and ‘fight, fight, fight’ resonates with everybody,” said Bob Oesterling, a local businessman and Trump supporter. “Everyone knows you got to ‘fight, fight, fight’ or we are done as the United States of America.”

Trump won 65 percent of the vote in Butler County in 2020 and needs to win here by a large margin again to carry Pennsylvania, motivating both Republicans and Democrats to get out the vote. But in the process, divisions are withering the backbone of a community that has historically prided itself on not letting politics get in the way of relationships.

“People that come in are very afraid and very angry,” said Barbara Davidson, a manager for United Republicans of Butler County, which runs...

[Navy Patriot]

Actually, I was asking if that was what you posted.

I looks like an autocorrect foul up on your original post.

[Billthedrill]

Well, with one half of the country praying for Trump’s wellbeing and the other half loudly resentful that the would-be murderer missed, that’s a gulf that is going to take a major bridging project and frankly I’m not all that interested in the other side anyway. How do we compromise on this, Trump only a little bit dead and the country only a little bit ruined? I’ll pass, thanks.

[gundog]

So, attempting to assassinate DJT was a gesture of unity that failed?

[RetiredTexasVet]

And supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris say they’re routinely heckled.

Once they know her and her positions (non-sexual), they will mock her instead of just heckling her.

[gitmo]

mixed mate phones

Thanks. I wasn't able to figure that one out.

Mixed metaphors.

[Navy Patriot]

I don’t think he proofreads.

[BikerJoe]

And supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris say they’re routinely heckled.

Well, I'm fairly high up in the Republican Committee in a neighboring county (Westmoreland), and I can tell you that for the first time in a dozen years of me doing stuff, over here they're getting downright evil...

At our County Fair, a nice kid just turning 18 came up to our booth and registered Republican. As he walked away, someone IN THE DEMONCRAT booth yelled for him to "go kill himself"!

We have a booth at our annual union Labor Day fair (which can be big, up to 30k people over 2 days). Our booth has been a hit ever since we started going there 9 years ago. Much more traffic than the dems. One of the dem booth people walked by and told my wife to "burn in hell".

At the same fair, a nice kid wearing a Trump shirt would visit a couple of times. He told us he tried to play bingo and they wouldn't let him in with the Trump shirt. My wife talked to the park officials (it's in a County Park) and they corrected things.

Nothing like these incidents happened in 2016 or 2020. By the way, at the Labor Day fair we gave out about 600 signs. Could've been double that, but we ran out.

[VRW Conspirator]

Tim Craig, I did not read your screed because it is obviously a skid mark of political Goebbel-ism.

[lightman]

Pennsylvania Ping!

Please ping me with articles of interest.

FReepmail me to be added to the list.

[Luke21]

It’s angry and divisive that Trump wasn’t murdered. Got it.

[jmacusa]

I'd love to see the editorial board of the WaPO get harassed out of a restaurant the way Sarah Huckabee was.

[thecodont]

“Divisive” is a commie code word.

[21twelve]

“Well, with one half of the country praying for Trump’s wellbeing and the other half loudly resentful that the would-be murderer missed....”

I know my Republican parents were horrified when JFK was killed. I know the college dorm was concerned about Reagan. I have no idea about other assassinations or attempted ones, but it sure seems that the attempted assassination on Trump sure brought out the worst of the leftists.

Well - I guess they had hanged Nixon and Bush and Trump in effigy (free speech I guess) - but that isn’t even close to cheering the shots at Trump, and their disappointment that he was only injured.

[Shady]

If I hear or read “It was staged” one more time…
You can’t look at the facts about what happened and not deduce that this was an inside hit job. “They” will do anything to stay in power. Anything.