I happened to be on an American Airlines flight on Saturday at the time that an assassination attempt against former President Trump occurred. The reaction onboard was not unexpected, but still quite interesting to witness.
Trump Assassination Attempt – How Passengers On My American Airlines Flight Reacted
We were flying from Nashville, Tennessee (BNA) to Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT) when the assassination attempt against President Trump in Butler, PA occurred (I’ll share more about the trip tomorrow). It happened just as we were taking off and I quickly connected to in-flight wi-fi and sat spellbound as the news slowly filtered in.
But it seemed like I was the only one who connected to the internet…
When we landed in Charlotte 50 minutes later, folks turned their phones on and all of a sudden everyone was talking about Trump being shot. As you can imagine on a flight between Tennessee and North Carolina, most appeared to be Trump supporters and there was immediate outrage and fear. The couple behind us stopped to pray for Trump and the couple in front of us shook their heads in disbelief.
One lady across from us and one row back was crying. Several people said, “I can’t believe it. Is this really happening?”
Yes, it really happened.
Political violence in America is not new. I won’t work through the long laundry list of assassination and assassination attempts in US history, but it goes back to the Andrew Jackson administration and has been an unfortunate staple of American life for 200 years.
There’s really nothing new under the sun. The congeniality and reconciliation of the last two days has been refreshing, but will the finger-pointing and blame game now take over? Are we on the path to another civil war, with two nations, two justice systems, and two very different trajectories?
Optimistically, and perhaps naively, I hope not. While there are such differences that divide us, we see even in the bipartisan outpouring of sympathy for Trump over the weekend that unity is possible.
CONCLUSION
It was interesting to be onboard an American Airlines flight in the South during the assassination attempt against Trump. The anger and fear over it will hopefully drive conversations toward reconciliation instead of further division. But I’m probably hopelessly naive…
Ironically, I was also on an American Airlines flight on January 6, 2021 when the US Capitol was penetrated by protestors aiming to stop the certification of the last election. There is a link between those events. There is a link between political violence and the rhetoric of fear and resentment.
As President Reagan said in his first speech after he was shot outside the Washington Hilton in 1981:
I’d like to say a few words directly to all of you and to those who are watching and listening tonight, because this is the only way I know to express to all of you on behalf of Nancy and myself our appreciation for your messages and flowers and, most of all, your prayers, not only for me but for those others who fell beside me.
The warmth of your words, the expression of friendship and, yes, love, meant more to us than you can ever know. You have given us a memory that we’ll treasure forever. And you’ve provided an answer to those few voices that were raised saying that what happened was evidence that ours is a sick society.
Let us choose our words carefully and remember that a house divided cannot stand.
There’s always an aviation angle.
Reagan was a genuine mensch , especially because he also had a sense of humour .
Trump is resilient , to his credit ; however , he needs a sense of humour .
Both were very lucky to have survived close calls .
Rather than denouncing the pretending New York Judges , he ought to have told jokes about them . They could not have issued gag orders if the jokes were on-point .
Many won’t remember this and many won’t have been born when this happened. In 1986 or so, Reagan was in Berlin giving a speech. A balloon popped and some may have thought it was a bullet fired. Without a moment’s hesitation, he smiles and says something like “you missed” and carries on.
@GU … Good one .
This video mentions it being 1987. And the phrase was “missed me”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2IGDYGroToY
Perhaps I am being a bit naive and pollyannish here, but when I step back from all the internet rhetoric and take a 35,000 ft view of our nation, I see that we live in an era of unprecedented peace (at least on our shores), prosperity, and medical and technological advances that have given us an ease and quality of life that our forebears could only dream about. There really is far more that unites us than divides us as Americans. I think most rational people on both sides of the political spectrum want what’s best for our nation…we may just disagree on how best to get there. Confucius once opined that a bird needs both the left wing and the right wing to lift the center…and I agree. Healthy, robust, and civilized debate is a hallmark of our republican democracy. I’m my 30 years as an airline pilot, I’ve been very fortunate to travel to 189 countries and all seven continents. No place is perfect…each country has its strengths and weaknesses, but I still believe we, as Americans, are truly fortunate to live in the land of opportunity. There are vastly more people trying to get into this country than trying to leave it. Let’s focus on what unites us and not the artificial rhetoric coming from individuals who seek to divide us for their own self serving agendas.
I consider myself a moderate conservative and support Trump. However, my immediate family members are all Trump haters. As soon as I mention Trump, they flip out. They have no interest in policy. They can’t discuss the issues without becoming extremely angry with me. If I can’t discuss my views with the people I love, how can I come together with strangers?
Keep saying Trump is a “threat to democracy” and someone will eventually take it a bit too seriously.
So January 6th rioting was over what if not some kind of believe about Congress and Mike Pence being a “threat”?
The master of political violence during campaigns and otherwise running up the threat picture against politicians in the country has been Trump ever since his pushing the “birther” nonsense about Obama.
LOL you just can’t stand it can you? But January 6th!! I hear you wail.
@Chi … January 6th was merely a rowdy loss of patience .
These kinds of ideologies devour their own, and then it’s a matter of when.
Wail about what. I think it’s a teaching moment: democracy can never be taken for granted, and even democracy can usher in fascism and worse when demagogues rise up to ride a wave of xenophobia and general fear of enemies within until it lands as a devastating tsunami and the former of home democracy turns into a shadow of its former self. Not a great way to make America better — not a good way at all. But Trump doesn’t care. He just wants to become more of an iconic figure no matter what it costs the country, And power-hungry people with a God complex are inherently high-risk — even more so when they are motivated to go down as an iconic figure in history and care not about what follows as long as they have their dynasty and legend set.
@GU … Relax occasionally . Don’t let CNN get you all worked up.
You know very well that the “Trump is a fascist” arguments are completely without merit, and that any thinking person can see through them as sensationalized lies.
Actually, maybe you don’t know it.
January 6th, 2021 wasn’t CNN’s doing. It was a Putin dream come true thanks to ye Lord Trump.
For people who claimed to be embarrassed about the messy US withdrawal from Afghanistan (or anything else that is ascribed to Biden without sounding completely whacko at first brush), that withdrawal was basically nothing in the eyes of most of the world compared to what happened in DC on Trump’s watch on January 6th, 2021.
The withdrawal from Afghanistan that was negotiated and agreed between the Taliban and Trump when he was still in office.
Seriously? Trump walks around saying Democrats are out to destroy the country. He said anyone voting for Democrats hates America.
I don’t want violence against Trump or any other political leader, but arguing that Democratic rhetoric caused this attempt is beyond disingenuous. Come on.
You probably have a Wifi subscription on AA, but the likely reason nobody else was online for your flight is that AA routinely prices those short flights at $15-20 or even more. It’s both crazy and unpredictable.
I was on a flight to Idaho Falls. There were 5 or 6 people wearing Trump hats or shirts to begin with. From the way people around me were talking when we landed and they turned on phones, you would have thought Jesus himself appeared and took a bullet for Trump.
Neds … They weren’t the brightest stars in the night sky , if they have mobile phones .
Maybe the Christian Broadcasting Network will make it into a cartoon for kids and put a divine halo around “God’s Warrior” persecuted” for being like an angel on earth. Pat Robertson would have loved that.
Sounds like a plan! It can air right after the Southwest Airlines Preboarder Healing Hour hosted by Benny Hinn.
I was on a flight from Newark to Phoenix on AA on Saturday evening. Went to watch IndyCar on the live TV streaming and saw the aftermath instead. I kept looking around the cabin to see if anyone else was watching what I was watching, but didn’t see anyone. Decided not to show anyone else so as not to cause unrest. Just sat there watching with my jaw wide open. It was surreal
@Alert heh, he’s in full cope and seethe mode, especially with the passive aggressive 😉 ‘s you just know this bro is mad
You apparently haven’t checked out my X thousand times of using the 😉 emoji. If you were correct, I would have had one or more heart attacks and been dead long ago. 😉
thoughts and prayers…that’s what we’re supposed to say when people get shot right? or is that only for school shootings?
Looking at high level political assassinations in the U.S. over the last 70 years or so it seems odd how effective the shooters are when the targets are Democrats: JFK, MLK, RFK. On the Republican side, nothing in the deaths ledger.
@Christian, that’s an ignorant comment to make. JFK and RFK’s beliefs align more closely with the modern day (2024) Republican Party than the Democratic Party.
Ending poverty. Strong NATO. Government aid for the poor. Pushing for worldwide democracy and away from authoritarianism. Strong civil rights protections for minorities. Funding NASA to lead the technology race. Remind me of which of these is part of the platform in Milwaukee this week?
The one thing JFK did that would today be claimed by both parties would be when he lowered the maximum Federal income tax from 91%. Yes, you read that right. That’s why responsible Republicans like Warren Buffet are begging for the government to tax them at a higher level more in accordance with historical norms. Again, will that be on the RNC Platform along with the other items I brought up?
Considering the federal income tax was 0% from 1787-1913, I would not consider 91% to be the historical norm in this country. I would consider 0% to be more historically normal.
The FBI and Secret Service have long been skewed toward being managed and staffed primarily by Republicans even when the President has been a Democrat. And yet the unhinged MAGA world and the related echo chamber is all into “it’s the Deep State/the swamp/the Democrats …… persecuting Trump”.
About the idea that the Kennedy brothers of the 1960s would identify more with Republicans today rather than the Democrats? That makes me laugh. American history seems lost in MAGA world,
Unless you count Lincoln.
That was a bit more than the 70 years I mentioned. I figured if we went back too far we’d go into the Aaron Burr/Alexander Hamilton duel where Hamilton refused to shoot at Burr, which might be considered assassination.
Actually, the history of assassination plots in America goes way past Andrew Jackson. As Britannica Online will inform you ( https://www.britannica.com/story/the-plot-to-assassinate-george-washingtonassassinate ) George Washington was the subject of one capture and kill plot during the American Revolution.
If that was the plot involving Hickey, then it was a plot to capture or kill George Washington. But that plot was before there was a United States of America. The American Revolutionary War preceded the existence of the US.