“Unutterable are the things we fear, but soon our fears will be exceeded.”
—from the Roman poet Lucan’s On the Civil War
When a friend texted me that someone “Just Tried to take out Trump” early Saturday evening, my immediate reaction was to fear the worst – that out of stormy political skies a thunderbolt had finally struck, blackening any hopes of peace in a flash.
America, at that very moment, seemed on the brink of unthinkable and unutterable things.
My fear only grew as I immediately found the video clip circulating on X, the footage captured live only minutes before.
The clip showed Donald Trump speaking at yet another rally, only to be interrupted by the sound of gunfire. I watched Trump twitch his head to his right side, grab his right ear, peer at his hand, and then fall to the ground as more gunshots popped off competing with the rising screams from the crowd.
That’s where the video ended, so I watched it again and again for the next several minutes.
My fear swelled. Violence sings its own song, and once its song begins, no one knows when it will end.
I couldn’t tell if Trump was fatally wounded. He seemed to have dropped of his own volition, but I couldn’t see if he had been struck by a bullet. I began furiously refreshing my feed in desperate need to know what happened.
Nothing new was coming up. Just the same short video being shared over and over again in real-time.
I kept refreshing, as my mind wandered to family members and their well-being. I especially thought of my brother and his wife and their brand-new baby girl, wondering what the world had in store for them.
“Is this even real?” I thought. Is this some kind of hoax or cheap trick? An AI production?
No, it felt all too real; more real than anything seen on the American political scene in a long time. This wasn’t some hollow ritual, scripted speech, or paper-thin reenactment – this was as real as Caesar and Pompey, Antietam and Gettysburg, Lincoln, Kennedy, and King.
There is nothing more real than the fear of spilt blood amplifying into more blood and fear. When life becomes unmoored from reality – and reality is mistaken as the plaything of our deluded fancies and clever whims – the shadow of death has a way of reminding us what’s real in spite of our desires.
I kept checking my feed. Still nothing. Those few minutes felt like an eternity. Then new footage finally appeared.
The Secret Service agents surrounding Trump were beginning to stand up with the 45th president. I still couldn’t tell what damage had been done. Neither could the crowd there assembled, as screams and shouts were followed by a drone of worried murmuring. The murmuring reached an electric hum as the mass of agents rose from the ground.
That’s when I heard that unmistakable voice say, “Wait, wait, wait, wait,” as Trump pushed his head up through his human shield. His face was covered in streaks of blood.
Pumping his fist in the air three times, he shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” with each thrust, as the crowd began to roar in recognition of what they were witnessing.
Suddenly, the fear welling up within me began to transform into pride; a pride beyond politics or elections; pride in seeing a man undaunted in the face of death itself.
Seeing Trump’s defiant fist in the air, I couldn’t shake the thought that legends are born when they tap into something much greater – and much more real – than our worst fears and deepest doubts.
More videos and photos began circulating on my feed, providing further detail of the scene. A bullet had clearly pierced the top of Trump’s right ear. The unutterable and unthinkable had been avoided by less than an inch. One miraculous inch. Many have suggested Divine Providence at work. I have no better explanation – though, perhaps, fortune simply favors the bold.
Indeed, Donald Trump’s message to the nation after the attempt on his life could not say it any better:
“[I]it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness.”
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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