The United States of America was under a state of terror and confusion last week, as suspicious packages involving explosive devices were sent to high-profile democratic figures, including ex-president Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, as the midterm elections are less than two weeks away, what does this mean for the upcoming results, and can it really affect the outcome?
Of course, there has been much speculation in terms of who is responsible, especially if you look at the receiving end of the bomb scare: as well as Obama and Clinton, billionaire philanthropist and Democratic donor George Soros, Democratic Representative Maxine Waters and former Attorney General Eric Holder were all amongst those to have received suspicious packages in the post. All the members in this group have been targets of ‘right-wing criticism’, suggesting the suspect was potentially a supporter of Trump.
And apparently, this view was widely spread across the nation, as #MAGABomber was top trending on twitter in the US. The hashtag MAGA, which stands for Make America Great Again, was set up by anti-Trump supporters, to blame the President for the latest set of events, and as a result, potentially manipulate the upcoming elections which will take place on Tuesday the 6th of November.
Clearly, right-wing supporters had a different intake on the situation, and have instead accused Democrats of taking part in a so-called ‘false flag’ operation. This scenario sees Democrats being responsible for the suspicious packages but placing the blame on Republicans in an excessive attempt to frame them.
Trump, who originally stayed politically impartial to the situation, stressed the importance of uniting as a nation, as well as the safety of the American citizens during this distressing time.
At a White House Event on Wednesday, he said:
‘The safety of the American people is my highest and absolute priority … in these times, we have to unify. We have to come together and send one very, clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America’.
However, his attempt to stay neutral quickly backfired as he reverted to his familiar aggressive tone, when he accused ‘fake news’ of being responsible for the ‘anger’ that America was now facing in terms of the latest bomb scandal.
In a tweet he posted on Thursday, he stated:
‘A very big part of the anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News …’
Later he tweeted again, specifically targeting CNN — also a victim of the suspicious packages:
‘Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me
for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream “it’s just not Presidential!” ‘
All in all, the accusations and revelations which have been released, have less to do with the serious health and safety concerns of the people involved, and more with finding someone to blame for the case.
The citizens of America, media outlets and now even the President himself, have converted this catastrophe into a critically political platform, with Republican candidate Ron DeSantis’ supporters going as far as holding signs stating: ‘Democrats fake news fake bombs’, ahead of his debate against Democrat Andrew Gillum.
The timing of the situation, as well as the strong and suspicious connection between all targets, has from the beginning, made this seem more as a political stunt rather than a serious terrorist scare. Whether or not this successfully sways the midterm votes, we will have to wait and see.
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