Niki Tshibaka: One-quarter inch of destiny

By NIKI TSHIBAKA

One-quarter inch. That is how close we came this weekend to an unfathomable future.

One-quarter inch. That was the distance separating two antipodal histories –- one, potentially calamitous.

The actions of an evil, would-be assassin reminded us that our republic is fragile. But the response of an indomitable leader, President Donald Trump, reminded us that our nation is resilient.  

While millions of good-hearted Americans on both sides of the political aisle are rightly rejoicing President Trump survived the attempted assassination, and appropriately grieving the fatality and casualties that resulted, we must remember the cancerous hatred that led to last weekend’s tragic turn continues to metastasize. 

For years, many of us have voiced our concerns that the vitriolic and hyperbolic rhetoric of Leftist leaders and media talking heads would lead to an attempt on President Trump’s life, especially when many of them indulged in demented fantasies of his demise. Consider:

• President Biden’s assertion that “Trump’s assault on democracy isn’t just part of his past … It’s what he is promising for the future” and his call last week “to put Trump in a bullseye”;
• Vice President Kamala Harris’ irresponsible claim, last Tuesday, that “Donald Trump wants to turn our democracy into a dictatorship”;
• Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ statement at an event in New York City in October 2017 that she would “go and take Trump out tonight”;
• Comedienne Kathy Griffin’s reposting of her infamous picture of a beheaded President Trump, after he questioned the 2020 election results; 
• The Washington Post article in December 2023 entitled, “Yes, it’s okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don’t let me stop you”; 
• The New Republic, in June 2024, merging President Trump’s face with Hitler’s and using the title “American Fascism: What It would Look Like”; and
• The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson stating on MSNBC that “[t]hey’re still gonna have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump. And that’s a fact.” 

Those, of course, are just a smattering of thousands of such examples we all have seen and heard over the last 7+ years. It would be fatal and foolish for us to presume that such deep hatred of President Trump and his supporters was defeated last weekend. Indeed, while the overwhelming response of President Trump’s opponents last weekend reflected genuine concern and humble introspection, the reactions of others indicate the attempt on his life has only temporarily slowed, not stopped, the destructive vitriol.

Some examples:

• Journalist Ashley Nerbovig’s tweet, “make america aim again”;
• Colorado State House Representative Steven Woodrow’s statement that, “[t]he last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil but here we are”;
• The New York Post’s cataloguing of the fury of some Leftists that President Trump survived; and
• The unseemly and indecorous New York Times’ Sunday Opinion page, one day after the assassination attempt, with these words: “He failed the tests of leadership and betrayed America.”

Although we were spared a national tragedy on Saturday, a beautiful family was not –- a daughter lost her father, a wife her husband. Former fire chief, Corey Comperatore, heroically sacrificed his life shielding his family from an assassin’s bullet. His death and the wounding of two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, are tragic reminders that the attack on President Trump was also an assault on those who support him – we are, and have been, in the crossfire, too. 

A quarter inch. That is how close we are, and how close we came, to what could have been a dark descent into civil unrest our country has not experienced since, perhaps, the Civil War. We must not miss this moment, this opportunity to change course permanently – not just for a few days or weeks.

While we are understandably enraged by the attempt on President Trump’s life, and by the reckless rhetoric that inspired it, the only way we will defeat the hatred that is eroding our republic one heart at a time is through a resolute and relentless love of our neighbor and our nation. No one has described the winning strategy more beautifully than First Lady Melania Trump did in her July 14 letter to America:

“Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love. … Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now.”

This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back.

This week, President Trump’s challenge will be to remind us, as President Abraham Lincoln once did, that “[w]e are not enemies, but friends” and that “[t]hough passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” I believe he will more than rise to the challenge and will show our nation he can be more than a great commander-in-chief, but also a great healer-in-chief and uniter-in-chief. 

Let us pray he succeeds. Because if he does not, the distance between the success and failure of the American Experiment may remain just a quarter inch.

Niki Tshibaka is an ordained minister, attorney, and co-host of the podcast, TV, and radio show STAND.