this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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Who the hell benefits from this other than his fanatics? I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be staged, and I'd be even less surprised if his supporters didn't care it wasn't real.
EDIT: I concede it was almost certainly a real attack, and probably by someone convinced they could save the country by killing him. I just wasn't going to be surprised if it turned out to be staged. I wish it had been; this is going to get the fanatics frothing at the mouth. They're already saying he was saved by God to stop the "leftists".
I'm wondering about the 'staged' explanation too. Points in favor of that I've come across from others or can think of:
Who insists on stopping to do a fist pump to the crowd after being shot at? Yeah, he's a narcissist, but still, wouldn't fight or flight kick in and he'd want to get out of there?
He has some history with fake wrestling, right? I'm not sure to what extent off-hand, but the fact he does means he's not a stranger to "faking" things.
The seeming lack of collateral damage if it was a real shooter. That someone would have the discipline of aim to only graze him, but not cause any other damage to anyone. I'm not sure on the logistics of this myself, but it's something I heard that I'm paraphrasing from someone else.
I'd also add that his followers absolutely would not stop following him if it turned out he lied here. He could spit in their faces and they would applaud. He has nothing to lose from doing a stunt like this, in fact they might find it endearing.