Trump’s great power is direct access to the people
They’re saying that Trump will now speak from behind bulletproof glass at all outdoor rallies.
The safety measure comes at the recommendation of the Secret Service. Bulletproof glass is usually reserved for sitting presidents and vice presidents, but in the case of Donald Trump, the Secret Service are prepared to make an exception.
The podium will be surrounded on three sides by high panes of glass. According to an insider, the Secret Service have already begun shipping panes of glass across the country in preparation for Trump to resume campaigning outdoors.
Since the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July, Trump has held thirteen rallies, but all of them have been indoors. At a recent indoor rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump expressed his dissatisfaction at the venue: “We’re not giving up the outdoor rallies,” he said.
I presume Trump will be surrounded by bulletproof glass when he returns to Butler in October, to the exact same place where Thomas Matthew Crooks tried and failed to kill him. Trump may be joined on stage by the widow of Corey Comperatore, the veteran and firefighter who died a hero, shielding his family from stray bullets. Helen Comperatore has said she will be there, so long as she is satisfied with arrangements for her safety.
As much as anybody else, I want Donald Trump to be safe too. I remember the deep sense of shock and the sinking feeling I felt when I woke up to multiple text messages telling me he’d been shot—and one saying he was dead—on Sunday 14 July. There obviously remains a credible threat to Trump’s life. That threat has existed since he walked down the escalator nearly eight years ago as president-in-waiting, but it has increased dramatically since then. We all know why, and we all know who is responsible. But that’s by the by.
Despite the threat to Trump’s life, this bulletproof glass is a mistake. Let me tell you why.
First of all, it lets the Secret Service off the hook. It makes it seem as if the situation in Butler could not have been prevented. We got a clear sense that was not the case within hours of the assassination attempt, when witnesses began telling the world about their desperate attempts to warn the Secret Service and local authorities about the presence of a man with a gun on the roof. In the five weeks that have now passed, further testimony, new video evidence and investigation are revealing a catalogue of errors and malfeasance so long and so puzzling it’s impossible to discount the possibility some or all of it was deliberate. Secret Service bigwigs are desperately trying to finger local law enforcement, but they’re pushing back hard. Ronald Rowe Jr, the acting director of the Secret Service, appears to have lied to Congress about the positioning of police snipers, in an attempt to blame them for allowing Crooks to access the roof he used to shoot at Trump.
Nobody—not a single person—has been fired from the Secret Service yet. Remember when that policeman was fired for donating $25 to Kyle Rittenhouse’s legal fund? Yeah, right. Accountability is something only the little people have to face. Nobody will be fired.
The Secret Service cannot be trusted to safeguard the life of the former president. Donald Trump must know this, and yet it seems he is trusting them.
Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater and the closest thing America has to Francis Drake, has claimed he could do a much better job protecting Trump. I’m sure he could. If the Trump team hasn’t spoken with Prince, they must. While it might be unheralded for a presidential candidate to rely on private security and not the Secret Service, at least in recent memory, I think it’s safe to say we’re already deep enough into uncharted territory for it not to make much of a difference. And if it keeps Trump safe, well—so be it.
With safety—and I mean real safety—comes another consideration: image. Standing behind an impenetrable shield of glass will make Trump look weak, when the whole message of the miracle in Butler, and in particular Trump’s electrifying fist-pumping gesture of defiance—FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!—was that Trump really is a badass, a man who will stare down death with blood across his face and refuse to flinch. Which is why his opponents have done their very best to make us forget about Butler and to prevent that iconic image from being displayed. They have nothing that can even begin to compare. Just facile “brat” memes and Tim Walz doing his awkward “okey-dokey, I’m a silly old white man who doesn’t season his food” routine.
Worse than that, putting Trump behind bulletproof glass will help to make him look like the very thing his opponents want America and the world to believe he is—a dictator. Of course, this isn’t true. Trump isn’t and doesn’t want to be a dictator—except maybe on day one—but the power of the image will assert itself, I guarantee. The ancient Greeks believed that a just ruler could walk freely among his subjects without fear of harm, but the tyrant had to lock himself away from the people, who would seize whatever chance they could to kill him and end his reign of terror. Nobody will even have to say a thing. The mere contrast with Kamala Harris and her rallies will be enough. Secret Service insiders have already said that bulletproof glass will be used at Harris rallies “if warranted,” but don’t be surprised to discover that it isn’t. It won’t need to be. There’s no threat to her life, and the Secret Service will have every single rooftop, perch and birdbox locked down within miles.
Just as bad: bulletproof glass will be a literal barrier between Trump and the people. His people. Despite his flash and flair and all his money, Trump is a man of the people and his great power derives from his direct, unmediated access to them, whether we’re talking about his use of social media or his campaigning style. Trump feeds off the people and they feed off him. That symbiotic relationship was on display at its strongest on that fateful night in Butler. As Trump has since said, he knew he couldn’t leave the stage without showing that he was still alive, without telling the people that they must fight on regardless. Rewatch that moment and study the stunned faces of the crowd as the president is bundled to the ground, then see the incomprehension turn to elation and righteous fury as he rises up and speaks to them directly, as their leader.
That is Trump’s great power, and anything that limits it, even a few panes of glass, could harm his chances of winning in November. I hope Trump realises that and acts accordingly, for the sake of the nation.
