Dem
47
GOP
53
Late yesterday, two members of the National Guard, who were patrolling the streets of Washington, DC, were shot just blocks from the White House. They were taken to the hospital, where they are listed in critical condition.
At the moment, not much is known about the shooter, who is apparently not cooperating with the police. It has been reported that he is 29 and an immigrant from Afghanistan. Several people who should be in the know, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, said it appears to have been a "targeted" shooting. We don't quite know what that means in this context. Was the shooter determined to shoot some National Guard troops? If so, is that really "targeted"? Or, was he determined to shoot these particular National Guard troops, perhaps because of a past encounter? Or, was he determined to shoot these particular people, and their National Guard status was just incidental?
In any event, even though there is much that ostensibly remains unknown, Donald Trump has nonetheless decided he has what he needs to be able to reach firm conclusions (Hint: The only detail he needs is "Afghanistan," though "immigrant" is sort of a bonus). Anyhow, Trump delivered a statement in which he: (1) bragged about how successful his occupation of D.C. has been, (2) referred to the shooting as an "act of evil" and an "act of terror," (3) referred to the shooter as an "animal," (4) said that this illustrates "the single greatest national security threat facing our nation," (5) claimed that the Biden administration allowed 20 million unvetted foreign nationals into the U.S., and (6) announced that all Afghans in the U.S. would be placed under scrutiny, with consideration for possible deportation, and that all immigration to the U.S. from Afghanistan is now halted.
In short, Trump thinks he has a winner here, and he wants to squeeze it for all it's worth. Since there is much that is unknown, we don't feel certain of too many things. However, we can say that it's pretty unusual for news stories that break on one side of the Thanksgiving holiday to linger until the other side of the holiday. We can also say that if Donald Trump had not deployed the National Guard to Washington, the two victims almost certainly wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed right now, fighting for their lives.
For these reasons, we think it unlikely that Trump has struck political gold here. The likeliest result here is that this story fades pretty quickly, especially given how much craziness this administration pumps out. Less likely, but still possible, is that the story rebounds on Trump, and he gets some (or all) of the blame, particularly if one or both of the wounded soldiers end up succumbing to their injuries. (Z)