The most iconic image of the 2024 campaign came from the Butler Farm Show Grounds in Pennsylvania on July 13.  An assassin had just fired multiple shots at President Trump, wounding him in the ear.  Secret Service agents scrambled to shield the president, while counter-snipers neutralized the shooter.  As members of his security detail began to briskly move him from the stage where he was speaking, President Trump asked them to stop so that he could reassure supporters he was alive and well.  With blood streaked across his face and pooling near one side of his mouth, he stretched a closed fist toward a blue sky with an American flag waving just behind his head and shouted to all who could hear, “Fight!  Fight!  Fight!”

Arguably, it was not just the most iconic visual of the campaign, but also one of the most iconic images in American history.  The picture of a bloodied but defiant American president reaching toward the heavens and expressing a sense of resolute calm in a moment of chaos will remain in many people’s minds for the rest of their lives.  President Trump’s bravery is seared in their memories. 

In any other election cycle, the contest would have ended on July 13.  On a sunny day during a festive campaign rally, a shooter murdered a husband and father protecting his family, injured two other attendees critically, and nearly assassinated a former president.  Such outrageous political violence should have sufficiently shifted public sentiment toward Trump’s favor to make his victory a foregone conclusion.  (For what it’s worth, President Biden dropped out of the race eight days later.)  Fearing that possibility, the propaganda press immediately worked to erase the incident from the public’s thoughts.  

After becoming one of the most famous photographs in the world, the image of President Trump’s raw courage disappeared from publications and websites.  Reporters barely talked about the murder of local Pennsylvanian Corey Comperatore or the serious injuries to other rallygoers.  Anonymous FBI sources initially downplayed the attempted assassination by speculating that Trump had not actually been shot but had instead been cut by flying pieces of broken glass.  Cable news pundits openly mocked the bandaging around Trump’s ear and acted as if being shot in the face is no big deal.  To this day, FBI investigators preposterously claim that they are unable to ascertain the shooter’s motive.  

This is the unfortunate reality of America in 2024.  One of the most consequential public figures in the world comes within millimeters of being assassinated, and the great majority of corporate news sources invest all their resources in covering up the seriousness of the event.  Reality cannot be permitted to interfere with their preferred political narratives. 

Imagine if President Biden, President Obama, or Vice President Harris had been the target of an identical assassination attempt.  The press would have been talking about the incident nonstop over the last four months.  Newspaper headlines and news show chyrons would have kept the word “assassination” in front of Americans’ eyes.  Reporters would have demanded daily press briefings from the Secret Service, DOJ, and FBI.  We would have been repeatedly reminded that “democracy” is “literally” under attack and that violent Republicans are a “threat” to the stability of the Republic.  July 13 would have been memorialized as another “date which will live in infamy” because Democrats and the propaganda press would have settled for nothing less.

On January 6, 2021, tens of thousands of unarmed Americans protested for free and fair elections outside the Capitol, and Democrats have made sure Americans never forget that date.  Corporate reporters have falsely called protesters “insurrectionists,” “terrorists,” and “violent extremists.”  Politicians have accused Trump’s voters of trying to somehow overthrow the federal government without firing a shot.  

In contrast, an assassin kills one Trump-supporter, injures several others, and nearly takes President Trump’s life, and the propaganda press acts as if it never happened.  If that glaring inconsistency does not vividly demonstrate how fake the J6 “insurrection” narrative has been, nothing else can.  Unlike Kamala Harris, Donald Trump was nominated for president through a democratic process, and when democracy actually came under attack, the news media minimized it as a trifle.

The outcome of this election will have serious consequences for Americans.  We will find out whether we are a nation willing to protect its citizens or a bankrupt welfare state with wide-open borders.  We will learn whether runaway inflation and economic uncertainty have become our permanent way of life or whether money-printing and crony capitalism have finally come to an end.  We will discover whether the Bill of Rights and Constitution still mean something in the United States or whether concerned Americans will have to fight for their most basic freedoms once again.  The stakes could not be higher.  

On top of all these life-and-death issues, one weighs most heavily: will the struggle for truth survive?  Will Americans beat back a Deep State committed to mass censorship?  Will Americans dig their heels into the ground and defend free speech?  

What we have learned over the last four years while the Biden-Harris administration attacked dissenting opinion as impermissible “disinformation” is that the death of the First Amendment means the proliferation of everything that is fake.  When scientific debate is censored, we get fake pandemics and fake vaccines.  When allegations of election fraud are treated as crimes, we get fake votes.  When political speech is vilified and the right to assemble is ignored, we get fake insurrections.  When Democrat elites overrule primary voters, we get fake presidential nominees.  When ill-prepared vice presidents are incapable of answering simple questions, we get fake accents!

Because Democrats and their corporate news allies have declared war on free speech, all we get is fake news.  And in a world where fake news dominates the headlines, assassination attempts against President Trump are erased from history. 

In the place of news that greatly matters, the propaganda press has filled the airwaves with demonstrable lies in the days leading up to the election.  Fake journalists lie about President Trump taking away birth control and forcing women to have babies against their will.  After covering up Joe Biden’s dementia for years, they now lie about Donald Trump showing fake signs of fatigue.  They parrot the FBI’s fake crime statistics and lie to Americans about the safety of their communities.  They parrot the CDC’s fake COVID statistics and lie to Americans about the success of lockdowns, mask mandates, and fake vaccines.  They parrot fake jobs reports and lie to Americans about economic growth.  Despite the fact that Kamala Harris has the lowest approval rating for any modern vice president, our fake journalists lie to Americans about her remarkable popular appeal.  And after mocking President Trump for being the victim of two separate assassination attempts, the propaganda press now pushes the lie that his words somehow threaten RINO Liz Cheney’s life.  The Deep State spews blatant lies, and the propaganda press treats those blatant lies as irrefutable truths. 

There is good news.  After eight years of unremitting propaganda demonizing President Trump as the most dangerous threat to the United States, he has never been more popular.  Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and every other prominent Democrat in the country have called Trump a “fascist,” a “Nazi,” and “Hitler” reincarnated for years.  An MSNBC reporter recently asked a New York voter, “How does that message resonate with you?”  The voter paused, looked at the reporter, and replied, “It doesn’t.”  The reporter seemed surprised, but Americans see through their lies.

President Trump survived an assassin’s bullet for a reason.  This is the time to choose a side.  All we must do is vote!  May God guide and protect us.  And remember: “Fight!  Fight!  Fight!”

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.