Over the last several decades, a culture war has raged in American politics. Seeping into nearly every aspect of American life, the realm of academics has been a major battleground for political and social debate. It is no secret that higher education in the United States has long been dominated by leftists and those sympathetic to progressive political ideologies. These sentiments, often taking radical formation, were once again apparent following a harrowing incident that occurred at a Donald Trump presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania over the previous weekend. Following drastic statements by an educator, Bellarmine University took action on Monday, July 15th. It issued a suspension to an academic faculty member who made controversial comments following the near assassination of Donald Trump.
James Jones, an educator, posted on social media that the shooter shouldn’t have “missed” Trump when attempting to take his life. Following these comments, the university took steps to suspend the individual. Leftist college institutions have come under scrutiny in larger quantities in recent years, with events occurring in late 2023 and early 2024 on many college campuses in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict often resulting in mass protests and many universities took anti-semitic stances regarding the affair.
The political tensions and divisions within the United States are likely to continue. The presidential election is only a few months away, and the country is quite polarized. Millions of people are divided against one another in the union, and the climate is quite volatile. As things continue to deteriorate, political violence becomes a real dangerous possibility, as evidenced at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania. At least one individual has already lost their life and two others are in critical condition following the shooting. The perpetrator was a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks, who used his father’s AR-15 rifle to commit the acts. Trump came inches away from death, in an extremely scary, harrowing occurence. The election nears closer.
