Over the years, the United States has been positioning itself as a vocal advocate for democratic norms across the globe, frequently scrutinizing and critiquing electoral processes in various countries, especially in Africa.
The US government has frequently condemned alleged flaws in these nations’ elections, denouncing perceived injustices, and imposing sanctions on individuals and governments accused of electoral malpractices.
However, the 2024 U.S. presidential elections have cast a different light on America’s democratic processes, raising questions about the integrity and fairness of its electoral system.
The US is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of electoral violence, ranging from weaponization of state institutions like the judiciary by the incumbent to multiple assassination attempts on the opposition candidate.
In the early stages of campaigning, former president Donald Trump, who is the Republican candidate in the presidential race, noted that his Democratic successor has weaponized the US justice system against him, comparing Joe Biden’s tactics to those of Hitler’s Gestapo.
Trump made the allegations after the state imposed on him charges in four different cases that range in scope and severity and are playing out in four different locations—New York, Miami, the District of Columbia, and Atlanta—in what was believed to be an attempt to block him from running.
However, the move failed to stop Trump from contesting for the presidency, which prompted his enemies to opt for violence that has turned his campaign trail bloody.
In less than two months, the former president, who is now running as an opposition candidate, has survived two assassination attempts, and several people have been shot dead during his rallies.
Barely two months after Trump was shot in the ear in a failed assassination attempt in western Pennsylvania, on September 15, 2024, the FBI said they are investigating an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his Florida golf club Sunday.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said during a Sunday news conference that his office was informed at 1:30 p.m. ET of shots fired by the Secret Service when agents fired at a man who had a rifle, aiming at Trump in the bushes along the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club.
The second assassination attempt underscores the increased levels of electoral violence in the US and eliminates the country’s moral authority to condemn any individual or nation over electoral malpractices.
Assassination attempts and plots on the President of the US have been numerous, ranging from the early 19th century to the present day. This article lists assassinations and assassination attempts on incumbent and former presidents and presidents-elect, but not on those who had not yet been elected president.
On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson was the first president to experience an assassination attempt when Richard Lawrence twice tried to shoot him in the East Portico of the Capitol after Jackson left a funeral held in the House Representatives Chamber.
Four sitting presidents have been killed: Abraham Lincoln (1865, by John Wilkes Booth), James A. Garfield (1881, by Charles J. Guiteau), William McKinley (1901, by Leon Czolgosz), and John F. Kennedy (1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald). Ronald Reagan (1981, by John Hinckley Jr.) is the only U.S. president to have been injured in an assassination attempt while in office and survive. Two former presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (1912, by John Schrank) and 2024, have also been injured in attacks.
In all of these cases, the attacker’s weapon was a firearm, and all the subjects were male. Gerald Ford experienced two attempted assassinations with a woman as the assailant.
