China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday proclaimed that the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump proved American politics have become “extreme and reckless,” with “less room for moderates.”
The Global Times took a moment to congratulate Chinese dictator Xi Jinping for sending his “sympathies” to Trump, as the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported. This report was curiously vague, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian adamantly refused to answer questions on Monday about exactly what Xi said or how he conveyed the message, but state media dutifully saluted their leader for his compassion.
With that done — and after a brief regurgitation of U.S. mainstream media reports about the details of Saturday evening’s attempt on Trump’s life — the Global Times launched into a lengthy tirade about “political violence” in America and how the shooting, once again, proved Chinese authoritarianism is a more stable and peaceable system.
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C-SPANRenmin University professor Diao Daming told the Global Times:
This indicates that political violence has been a persistent element in American history. On the other hand, the fact that such malicious incidents still occur at political rallies attended by former president, despite security measures, highlights the ongoing rampant gun violence issue in the U.S. and the seeming “intractability” of the problem.
Diao said that “revenge politics manifested through violence” was the new default mode of American politics, even though the Global Times dutifully noted that no one really knows why the shooter opened fire on Trump.
“The current chaos in the US is somewhat reminiscent of the turmoil from the late 1960s to the early 1970s,” opined Lu Xiang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
In the midst of relentless mutual accusations and personal attacks between the two elderly candidates, a toxic atmosphere is continuously building up. In such a poisonous environment, it is not hard to imagine one or even more violent incidents occurring.
Associate Dean of International Studies Jin Canrong of Renmin University, one of the most reliably gloomy hens in the Global Times coop of anti-American “Chinese experts,” said the shooting is a sign that America is doomed because it has “Congress voting along party lines on almost every issue, and partisan politics is becoming more polarized.”
“Americans used to be proud of the idea that they have the wisdom of compromise, which makes them differ from the extremes of the French political atmosphere. But now that they are also extreme and reckless, there is less room for moderates,” he declared.
“In addition, the gap between the rich and the poor in the U.S. is widening, the middle class is shrinking, and social polarization is also very serious. Many specific social conflicts, such as immigration and economic policy, are very confrontational,” Jin added, rendering a grim assessment of life under President Joe Biden.
The Global Times told its readers that Chinese social media thinks “U.S. democracy is in deep trouble,” and more attempts will probably be made on Trump’s life, especially since Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump has ostensibly prompted Democrats to realize they “have almost no chance to beat Trump.”
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Courtesy of CNN Presidential DebateOn the other hand, the Global Times said Chinese customers have been snapping up “T-shirts featuring a photo of Trump at the shooting scene,” presumably meaning the iconic photo of a bloodied Trump rising up beneath an American flag.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that some of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms are selling t-shirts with the Trump flag image for $4 a pop, with the buyer’s choice of either Trump’s official campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” or “Shooting Makes Me Stronger” — which, to be honest, is not a bad suggestion for an alternative 2024 slogan.
