Sports author Jeff Pearlman released a video on Saturday night, speaking about the assassination attempt on former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Specifically, Pearlman spoke about the discourse in the aftermath of the shooting in a since-deleted social media post.
Pearlman started the video by saying, “I have made a commitment to not get political here — and this is not me being political. This is me angry.”
Jeff Pearlman on the reaction to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
“We’re fucking broken. And something has to change. It shouldn’t be controversial that when an assassination attempt happens, we do not celebrate it.”pic.twitter.com/Z7JF7OAYSG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 14, 2024
He then detailed the reaction to the assassination attempt from President Joe Biden, noting that Biden issued a statement against the statement and called Trump in the hospital. As Pearlman noted, “Which is what you’re supposed to do.”
Then the focus shifted to the reaction.
“You have people on the left all over social media wishing that Donald Trump had been shot — had been killed,” Pearlman said. “You have people on the right, sitting members of Congress, accusing Joe Biden of plotting to kill Donald Trump. There was a period on time, not that long ago in America, where had this happened, had someone been shot during a presidential campaign, his opponent would obviously call, the person who was shot’s campaign would put out a statement expressing gratitude for the call from the President.
“The candidate, the person who wasn’t shot, would visit the other person in the hospital. They’d pose for a photo together. They would show that there’s unity in America. Like, that’s just how it would have been. We don’t do that **** anymore. At all.”
Pearlman’s focus then slightly shifted to the general attitude of the country.
“Everything is broken. A guy was ******* — someone tried to shoot a guy today. And all we are doing now is fighting about it. I can’t believe we’re at this point. I truly can’t believe we’re at this point. And it’s just so frustrating. This is not a left or right statement. So, I don’t want any comments, ‘Oooh, MAGA’ or ‘Blah, blah, blah, Biden.’ We’re ******* broken.
“And something has to change. Because it shouldn’t be controversial that when an assassination attempt happens, we do not celebrate it. And it shouldn’t be a big deal that the opponent calls a guy and makes sure that he’s OK and they talk. And it shouldn’t be a big deal that the guy whose life there’s an assassination attempt on, his side issues a statement thanking the person. It shouldn’t be complicated. And somehow, we’re just broken. And I hate watching it.”
[Jeff Pearlman]
