15 July 2024 - A shot at the President

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G’day… Claire Kimball here. 

Making sense of the shocking development in Pennsylvania, USA is going to occupy some time - not just in this week’s News Club newsletter, but for American voters and the world more broadly.

I’m talking, of course, of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump - the guy who has upended political norms over the last decade and is hoping to be the nation’s leader again for 4 more years. And just to put on your news radar - this week we’ll see the extent to which he’s remade the Republican Party in his image when his candidacy is confirmed at their National Convention in Milwaukee. 

Trump’s brand of politics and the controversy he stirs up is no excuse for someone trying to kill him... Right now, it seems authorities are some way off confirming the motives of the man accused of taking the shot at Trump during a campaign rally yesterday. 

But a lot is being said about the fever-pitch rhetoric of the campaigns and how worked up many voters are. Just a quick search of ‘American voters and anger’ brought up this article from October 2022 that says: “Regardless of whether they live in a red state or a blue state, identify as Democrats or Republicans, or claim to be ideologically liberal or conservative, Americans have one thing in common. They are angry.” And according to the polls, that sentiment has only worsened since then… 

This isn’t the first time violence has marred America’s politics… As I listened to the rolling coverage of what happened yesterday, the commentators rattled off other cases in their history like everyone knew what they were talking about. I don’t know about you, but my connection to those events is a bit hazy… So, to our Club Picks this week: 

1. Let’s start with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 - a moment that is embedded in the fabric of the American story. The subject of 150 years of investigation and intrigue, I’m recommending a recent TV series Killing Lincoln on Apple TV+. PS there’s something about this photo of Lincoln from 1863 that really gets me - it’s like he is looking right at you… 

2. We’ve got to cover off the assassination of President John F Kennedy… Hand-in-hand with that are the conspiracy theories about his murder - this Intelligencer article is a great run down that dark/windy road… 

3. The last assassination attempt comparable to the one on Trump was in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan was fired on as he left an event in Washington and was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off his limousine, striking him under the left armpit. His would-be killer John Hinckley Jr was declared insane - he said he did it to impress actress Jodie Foster. You can imagine what that did to her… 

4. Political assassinations have happened here too… NSW Labor MP John Newman was murdered outside his home in Sydney’s Cabramatta in 1994 - it’s talked about as ‘Australia’s first political murder’. A campaigner against Asian organised crime, Newman was killed by local club owner/political rival Phuong Ngo who continues to claim his innocence. This Daily Telegraph article takes you through what people who were part of that world at the time said about it. 

I hope that gives you some good resources on a big talking point this week. And as we have previously said about the US presidential election, strap yourself in… 

Your friend in news
Claire Kimball

A peek at Newsmakers…

ICYMI: Last week we launched our limited interview series, Newsmakers. And sound the alarm - our second episode featuring Chris Uhlmann dropped this morning. Uhlmann, the former chief political correspondent at ABC and political editor at Nine, now writes for The Australian. He chatted with Kate about his unconventional path to journalism and the big issues - China, the US, Western values, and what he believes is worth fighting for. Our newsletter on the interview drops Wednesday, but we reckon it’s worth a listen now.

Listen on Apple and Spotify.

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