PORTLAND, Maine — It has been a week since Secret Service agents foiled an apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump—the second attempt in the just a matter of months.
There is a lot of finger-pointing over what is spurring the violence, with Democrats blaming Trump for his divisive rhetoric and Republicans blaming Democrats for comparing Trump to Hitler and stoking fears he is a "threat to Democracy."
Democratic activist and host of the Black in Maine podcast Genius Black said the latest attempted assassination will only secure support among his base.
"This is just another notch in his belt of being a hero, of just being an underdog and being someone who can live through whatever," Black said. "I do think that will solidify some people to move closer to Donald Trump."
Former Republican state senator and political strategist Garrett Mason agreed the incidents would impact votes.
"Do I think it's going to affect the election? Yes, I do. The first one, the first assassination attempt—and I can't believe I have to say the first assassination attempt, you know—that got a memory hole. I mean, let's just be honest about it. People weren't talking about it after Kamala Harris," he said.
Mason also argued Democrats are to blame for the spike in violence targeting Trump.
"I think the Trump campaign actually put an excellent commercial out that showed two minutes of Democrats calling Donald Trump a threat, calling him Hitler, calling him a Nazi, saying that democracy is over if Donald Trump gets elected," Mason said. "These aren't fringe Democrats. These are mainline Democrats. And that's the kind of rhetoric we're talking about."
In turn Black made the case that Trump "talks a lot of violent rhetoric regularly," including recent debunk claims Haitian immigrants in Ohio were allegedly eating pets.
"It's based on racism and it's untrue. And because of you at that position of power and you say those things out loud. Then you have KKK people in the city dropping leaflets and fliers because they are looking to ride those coattails of anger and hatred. And that's what's happening," Black said.
He went on to argue that "violence and racism are kind of cousins," which was a point Mason refuted.
"That's fine, but violence doesn't mean racism. Like, I'm sorry, I completely disagree with that," he said. "I'm not saying that those are those can't be equal, but violence can go along with a lot of things, and not just racism."
How this rhetoric will influence election results has yet to be seen. A new poll by Pan Atlantic Research, based in Maine, found Harris was leading against Trump in Maine 50 percent to 41 percent.
You can watch Political Brew every Sunday on The Weekend Morning Report at 6 a.m. You can also catch it any time on NEWS CENTER Maine+.