Trump a "very divisive figure" in America: Foreign affairs expert on possible reason behind attack

New Delhi [India], July 14 : Foreign affairs expert Robinder Sachdev condemned the attack on former US President Donald Trump and said that there is a possibility that someone who hated Trump to this extent wanted to kill him because of his policies as he is no doubt a "very divisive figure" in America.
Sachdev called the attack on former US President Trump an "extremely shocking and unfortunate incident" and said that it came at a sensitive time.
Trump was on stage at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania's Butler before gunshots rang out and Secret Service agents stormed the stage.
He said that sometimes, there are incidents where shooters or killers come with some other objectives.
"But there is an equal possibility that in this particular case, it was someone who was angry or who hated Trump to the extent that he wanted to kill him because of his policies because Trump is no doubt a very divisive figure in America," Sachdev told ANI.
Asked whether this incident would impact American presidential elections, the expert said that it will definitely have an impact.
"This incident will definitely impact American elections," he said, adding that, it will create some sympathy for Donald Trump among his supporters and the neutral and even others.
He said that it would help the former US President to beef up his image of a strong man, noting how he responded right after getting attacked.
"It will help Trump to beef up his image of a strong man. The immediate reaction after the shooting was that he raised his fist and said, we will fight. Even there was blood on his cheeks. So it will reinforce the image that Trump is a strong man. Trump is a fighter. And that is what he is telling his base and his followers that I am a fighter. I will fight for you," he emphasised.
"Immediately after the shooting, Trump was still up and while his ear was bleeding, he raised his fist and said we will fight, so you can rest assured that in coming days, given President Biden and his failing health and questions about his mental cognitive abilities, on the one hand and the other hand Trump looking strong even after the shooting, these will be in contrast," he said.
So if not for Trump's campaign, Trump's supporters and followers would be flooding social media with such pictures.
Sachdev continued that it would help Trump and his image immensely among his followers.
"It will give them more energy because they will position it. Now that, look here, my opponents want to even kill me," he added.
Underscoring that Trump has been saying that his opponents are using the law to take him to court, where they should not be there hounding him, Sachdev said that now many of his supporters and the far right on social media will take this into a conspiracy theory."
They will now, "quote, unquote, the liberals, the Democrats, the communists because according to Trump and his followers, Biden and Democrats are communists. So, the communists are trying to kill Trump. That will be the conspiracy theories out there. So all of these will, in some way definitely help Trump," Sachdev told ANI.
Further stressing that this incident will lead to many unfortunate social media and conspiracy postings, Sachdev said that it indicates security lapse.
"Even if it was far, a sniper should not have in able to position himself or herself and be able to take a shot at the ex-president so there were security lapse, no doubt, and given the hot environment in the US and the deeply political divides, this incident would see many unfortunate social media postings, conspiracy postings," he said.
However, President Biden has condemned it in the strongest words possible, Sachdev said.
"He has said that there is no place for violence in democracy. He has said it and that is the right thing to say," he added.
On being asked about the reasons behind the attack, the expert said that there could be various reasons behind the shooter's mindset, adding that the reason is still unclear.
"The mindset of a shooter like this, we just do not know. It could be a personal vendetta, he may be angry at Donald Trump for some very different things, not political ideology. Second, it could be that he was angry at Trump's political ideology. The third thing is that the shooter may have been a hired shooter. Somebody may have hired him to shoot and do this," he said.
Following the attack on Trump, the Secret Service agents surrounded the Republican candidate and escorted him off the stage, with blood visible across his face.
Donald Trump said that the bullet pierced the upper part of his ear.
One of the rally attendees was killed, while two more were critically injured, CNN reported. The gunman was also killed by US Secret Service agents.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified the gunman involved in the assassination attempt against Donald Trump as Thomas Matthew Crooks. It further said that an investigation is underway into the shooting incident, CNN reported.