Political expert weighs in on how Trump assassination attempt may impact election

WASHINGTON - Just over 24 hours ago, former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.

In that time, there’s been a melee of speculation about how this will impact the outcome of the presidential election. 

On Nov. 5, American voters will have to decide if President Joe Biden will be re-elected for a second term or if Donald Trump will return to the White House.

The shooting at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania Saturday has the world and voters talking, also asking many questions.

In a time when there is already a political divide in the country, some wonder if the shooter’s decision to get on a roof and fire eight shots into a crowd of people, killing one and injuring two – including the former president – will change the outcome of the election.

FOX 5 spoke with Allan Lichtman, a professor of history at American University. He has accurately predicted the winner of presidential elections in the past. He says right now, it’s just too soon to tell.

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"Anyone who thinks they know the implications of this horrific tragedy is misleading you. Instant predictions are meaningless. You’ve got to wait and see what the implications are. It can go in one of two directions. On one hand, Donald Trump can look like a heroic survivor and martyr. On the other hand, it could look like a culmination of the kind of violence Donald Trump has talked about a lot and instigated on January 6th when he let the violence go on for three hours all the mayhem and did nothing," Lichtman said. 

The Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday. This is where Donald Trump will accept the party's formal nomination.

Lichtman says in regards to the election, the ball is in the court of Republicans. He says they can exploit the tragedy or use it to bring the nation together.

"I think you’ll see a lot of images of Donald Trump raising his fist and calling for a fight. As Donald Trump has said ‘I’m your savior’ and the only guy who can save America," Lichtman said. "What you’re looking for and what is so crucial is whether they misleading attempt to pin this on the Democrats and Joe Biden or they take this opportunity to do something Republicans have not done since the advent of Donald Trump in 2015 and try to bring Americans together. That was Biden’s message. We will see if that is the message of the Republicans."

Lichtman’s word of advice for voters is don’t make snap judgments, especially when we do not know the exact motive of the shooter.

Back at the White House, we know Biden did have a conversation with Trump that he described as short but good.