All of America has just taken a bullet - but we WILL survive: MAUREEN CALLAHAN's visceral reaction to the attempted assassination of Trump - and her fear that this election will only get worse

What a trauma. What an inevitability.

The attempted assassination of erstwhile President Donald Trump horrifies. It's an battle connected everything America stands for, an onslaught connected populist itself.

One attendee, a man reportedly seated down Trump, was changeable successful nan caput and died. Two different attendees person been critically injured.

An eyewitness told NBC News that he had taken clip disconnected activity to travel to Saturday's arena successful Pennsylvania. He had ne'er been to a governmental rally before, he said. He thought it would beryllium fun.

In relating what he had conscionable seen, a man changeable to decease earlier his eyes and a erstwhile president astir killed, he said he was unsure of nan details.

'Time dilates,' he said.

Time dilates, indeed. And so, now, has this election.  

A Trump protagonist named Tracy said for america all. 

'Why,' she asked, 'is this happening successful our state today?'

Americans are exhausted. This statesmanlike predetermination rhythm already felt much grueling than nan 1 earlier that, and nan 1 earlier that. Now, it feels unbearable.

 We person whipsawed, successful nan past fewer weeks, from disbelief to embarrassment to daze and sadness.

This is is simply a benignant of panic and unit this federation should beryllium agelong past.

We saw Trump wince, touch his ear, spot blood, past duck and screen earlier nan Secret Service swarmed him.

After nan shooter was reportedly changeable dead, nan information agents began lifting Trump, who could beryllium heard saying, 'Let maine get my shoes' — indicating that he was surrounded pinch specified unit that his shoes came off.

Once upright, Trump faced nan crowd, humor smeared connected nan correct broadside of his face, and pumped his fist successful nan air.

'Fight!' he yelled to nan crowd. 'Fight! Fight!'

It was axenic Donald Trump: Defiance and iconography. His statement, released connected Truth Social conscionable hours later — while he was still successful nan infirmary — was tonally perfect.

He thanked nan Secret Service and rule enforcement earlier talking not of himself, but nan shooter's different victims.

'Most importantly,' Trump wrote, 'I want to widen my condolences to nan family of nan personification astatine nan rally who was killed, and besides to nan family of different personification that was severely injured. It is unthinkable that specified an enactment tin return spot successful our country.'

It's besides unthinkable that it took President Biden astir 2 hours to make a connection — not truthful overmuch arsenic a tweet, aliases a one-line property merchandise beforehand. Perhaps he was napping astatine nan formation house.

When Biden did speak, roused astatine Rehoboth Beach, it was to decry 'political violence'. His words were markedly impersonal.

It's a very mini club, erstwhile surviving U.S. presidents. You would think, contempt immoderate individual enmity exists, that nan attempted assassination of 1 of them mightiness bring distant words from our existent president that meet nan moment, not boilerplate run dross — dross that nevertheless managed to sound nonsensical. Counterfactual.

'The thought that there's governmental unit for illustration this successful America is conscionable unheard of,' he said.

It is? Sitting U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were killed by assassins. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan each survived assassination attempts. It's really each excessively well-heard of.

'Look,' Biden continued. 'There's nary spot successful America for this benignant of violence… That's why we person to merge this country.'

No urgency, nary quality compassion, aliases a infinitesimal of detente.

Same pinch erstwhile president Barack Obama, who was himself specified a target that he was reportedly outfitted successful a bullet-resistant suit for his 2009 inauguration.

Obama, too, took hours to definitive his condolences, aliases what passes for them, connected X.

'There is perfectly nary spot for governmental unit successful our democracy,' he wrote. 'Although we don't yet cognize precisely what happened, we should each beryllium relieved that erstwhile President Trump wasn't earnestly hurt, and usage this infinitesimal to recommit ourselves to civility and respect successful our politics.'

Wow. That's allegedly nan champion orator successful modern American politics. He could person done better.

How galling to beryllium lectured connected 'uniting nan country' and 'recommitting ourselves to civility' by 2 U.S. presidents who couldn't, aliases wouldn't, respond to this calamity pinch nan urgency it deserves, and done gritted teeth opportunity they're gladsome Trump wasn't earnestly injured.

This predetermination isn't going to get immoderate much civil; acold from it.

But America has been done worse. We survived nan Civil War, Pearl Harbor, nan assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., successful accelerated succession.

We survived 9/11, nan pandemic, and — contempt regular hair-on-fire warnings from nan near — Trump's first term.

We'll get done this, too. And we'll beryllium stronger for it.