July 2024 Luckiest Month in Donald Trump’s Life

July 2024 may go down as the luckiest month in Donald Trump’s life. With a turn of his head he narrowly dodged an assassin’s bullet, the Supreme Court granted him immunity for his acts while President, his sentence in the Stormy Daniels case was delayed because of that Supreme Court decision, and a judge dismissed the case of his hoarding top-secret documents.

Trump Assassination Attempt

On July 13 a young man armed with an AR-15 style rifle perched on an unprotected rooftop 130 yards from the stage of a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania nicked Trump’s right ear. Trump turned his head to the right to look at a large digital screen, likely avoiding a direct headshot.

Several attendees saw the shooter and alerted police. When a policeman ascended to the roof the gunman turned his AR-15 on him, forcing the officer to retreat to the ground. Immediately afterwards, he shot six or eight times from a prone position, hitting the former President in the ear. A Secret Service sniper stationed on a roof top behind the president shot the gunman.

Several Secret Service agents shielded Trump with their bodies, and while the agents escorted him off the stage he pumped his fist in the air and yelled “fight, fight, fight”. Some attendees ducked, some screamed, many cheered and recorded video with their phones, chanting “USA, USA” while other bloodied bodies in the bleachers were carried away.

One rally attendee was killed and two others were seriously injured in the shooting. A firefighter died while shielding his family from the bullets. One wounded attendee was put into a medically induced coma, and the other was in stable condition with two gunshot wounds.

Who Shot Trump?

The morning of the assassination attempt the 20-year-old Thomas Crooks borrowed his dad‘s AR-15, saying he was going to the shooting range. He purchased 50 rounds of ammo, drove 40 miles to the rally, and shimmied up to a roof only 400 feet away from the podium where Trump stood.

Crooks had just graduated from a community college with an Associate Degree, and worked in the kitchen of a nursing home. He was a member of a shooting range, and while in high school tried out for the rifle team but didn’t make the cut. He was described as a good student, well mannered, but a loaner.

While he wasn’t carrying ID, authorities quickly identified crooks with a facial photo match. Police found explosive devices both in his car at the rally, and in his home with Trump signs on the lawn.

Breakdown in Security Left the Gunman’s Rooftop Perch Unprotected

Crooks was identified as a person of suspicion an hour before the shooting while using a rangefinder to judge the distance to the stage. Local police were responsible for securing the outer perimeter of the fairgrounds where the rally was held. However, even though police were stationed inside the building, nobody secured the roof above them from where the gunman fired on Trump. Attendees pointed out Crooks on the roof of the building to police officers who started investigating, but did not warn the Secret Service.

Trump Assassination Attempt Fuels an Immediate Firestorm of Conspiracy Theories

It took only seconds for a Secret Service sniper to kill the would-be assassin after he shot Trump in the ear at his Butler, PA rally, and the conspiracy theories and disinformation rang out just as quickly.

From a person claiming to be the real shooter, to those who thought the assassination attempt was staged, to Republican lawmakers who blamed Joe Biden, the media, and the “deep state”, conspiracies lit up social media like a Christmas tree.

• “They tried to jail him and now they’ve tried to kill him”. US Representative Greg Steube, Florida Republican
• “Joe Biden sent the orders”. US Representative Mike Collins, Georgia Republican
• “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” US Senator J.D. Vance, Ohio Republican
• “The Democrats and the media are to blame for every drop of blood spilled today. For years and years, they’ve demonized him and his supporters. Today, someone finally tried to take out the leader of our America First and the greatest President of all time.” US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican
• “Trump-deranged Left wing LUNATICS that parade around MSNBC and other FAKE NEWS ‘outlets’ demonizing Trump and calling him Hitler are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for this violent attack on President Trump’s life!! They have BLOOD on their hands,” US Representative Ronny Jackson, Texas Republican

Trump Nominated and Announced Running Mate at the Republican National Convention

Just two days after the assassination attempt, Trump appeared with a bandaged ear at the Republican National Convention, where he named J.D. Vance as his Vice President. Three days later, Trump delivered a rambling, lying, acceptance speech to the RNC in which he repeated disproven claims, including:

• homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America’s fifty largest cities
• we have the worst recovery since the Great Depression
• we’ve lost nearly one-third of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA
• the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen” through widespread voter fraud

These fibs and many others were fact-checked after his RNC speech. Trump also stated that Dominion Voting Systems manipulated vote totals, despite the $787.5 million judgement against Fox News from their false claims about Dominion in the 2020 presidential election.

Supreme Court Rules Former President Trump Has Conditional Immunity.

The Supreme Court ruled that a president has absolute immunity for official acts, and presumed immunity for all others. The case was sent back to a lower appeals court to decide the nature of Trump’s acts on January 6. If his actions around the insurrection are considered not part of the core constitutional duties of the president, then the election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith may proceed. However, it is doubtful that will resume before the November election, and if Trump is elected, he’ll defund Jack Smith and his prosecution.

Trump’s Sentencing in New York Stormy Daniels Case Delayed to Assess Possible Immunity

Trump was scheduled for sentencing for 34 felony counts on July 11, but since some of his actions to conceal the affair with a porn star occurred while he was president, his lawyers are asking the court to vacate the conviction based on the Supreme Court’s ruling about presidential immunity.

Classified Documents Case Against Trump Dismissed

40 counts of hoarding top-secret documents and obstructing the Justice Department’s investigation were dismissed by a Trump-appointed judge. On the opening day of the Republican national convention Judge Cannon agreed with Trump‘s lawyers that the Attorney General’s appointment and funding of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional because only Congress can do so.

Steve Bannon in Prison for Defying a Congressional Subpoena from the January 6 Commission

The former top adviser to Donald Trump reported to prison on July 1, 2024, to serve a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. He willfully defied a subpoena to appear before the House Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.

Rudy Giuliani Disbarred in New York Over False Statements About the 2020 Election

A New York appeals court upheld Giuliani’s disbarment saying he “baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process”. He was indicted in Georgia and Arizona for scheming to overturn the 2020 election, he was ordered to pay $148 million in damages to Georgia poll workers he defamed, and he may be disbarred in Washington, DC next.