Bernie Scolaro is a retired school counselor, a past president of the Sioux City Education Association, and former Sioux City school board member.
A man attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania on July 13. A bullet killed Corey Comperatore, who was sitting behind the candidate at the rally. Trump was wounded when something (bullet, glass, or shrapnel) grazed his ear, producing much blood.
Neither the hospital nor the attending physician ever released a report on Trump’s condition or treatment. He has repeatedly said a bullet hit his ear. The FBI has been investigating the incident, and FBI Director Chris Wray told the House Judiciary Committee on July 24 that “there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.” The FBI later said in a July 26 statement, “What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”
Trump, a man who claimed to have bone spurs to avoid military service during the Vietnam War, likens himself to being the tough guy. Being shot at can certainly advance his narrative and puff out his chest a little further.
The Republican nominee and other members of his party seemed to be furious that there were questions about whether a bullet directly hit the candidate. After all, Trump wants to identify as both strongman and victim being persecuted for his “base.” At a recent rally in Michigan, he said, “I took a bullet for democracy.” Apparently he thinks that’s way cooler to say than, “I took shrapnel for democracy.”
So, what if it had been shrapnel that hit Trump’s ear? Isn’t that still an assassination attempt? Only Trump’s misguided egotism makes him and his followers consider that kind of wound less significant. Trump often falls back on hyperbole, so perhaps he believes he needs to have been struck by a bullet, or make everyone else believe that. It sounds more terrifying, more heroic.
In light of the opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, held on July 26, I was reminded of another Olympics.
Early one Saturday morning, my partner and I turned on the television to hear an announcement that the “games will go on.” That was July 27, 1996. We were in a Georgia motel getting dressed and ready to drive to Stone Mountain Park to watch Olympic tennis. After midnight during a free concert, there had been a domestic pipe bombing at Centennial Olympic Park—the same park where taken our tourist pictures the day before, proudly wearing our red, white, and blue.
It was a surreal moment. The blast and shrapnel killed one person (Alice Hawthorne) and injured more than 100 others.
We returned to the Centennial Olympic Park before leaving Atlanta that year in order to pay our respects for what happened hours after we had been there. I remember solemnly standing in front of the bombed-out area, looking at flowers left for the victim who died so needlessly there. All life is precious. All life has dignity.
Heroes aren’t necessarily the “strong men,” or the one who makes sure you know what they supposedly did for you. I prefer heroes whose actions speak louder than words. As for the ones who continually denigrate others, their blast of words stings like shrapnel in my ear.
Top photo of Donald Trump at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 20, 2024 was first published on the candidate’s Facebook page.