In 1981, we were all Republicans. I would be happy today if we were all Americans

The year was 1981 and President Ronald Reagan had been in office for just sixty-nine days. The country was divided then as it is now. To conservatives, Reagan was a hero who spoke of America as a “shining city on a hill.” To liberals, Reagan was a villain whose economic policies favored the rich at the expense of the middle class and the poor.

Reagan had just finished speaking to a meeting of the AFL-CIO at a Washington D.C. hotel. He raised his arm to wave at the crowd when John Hinckley Jr. fired six shots from his pistol. James Brady, Reagan’s press secretary, was shot and critically injured. A Secret Service agent and a police officer were also wounded. It was not immediately clear that Reagan had been hit, but when he began coughing up blood, they rushed him to George Washington University Hospital.

The shooting was not politically motivated. Hinckley had shot the president in a misguided attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster. Hinckley had developed an obsession with Foster after seeing her in the film "Taxi Driver," in which her character is stalked by a disturbed man who plots to assassinate a presidential candidate.

In the operating room, before going under anesthesia, Reagan joked with the surgical team and said, “I hope you are all Republicans!”

The surgeon, Dr. Joseph Giordano, director of the hospital's trauma unit and a registered Democrat, replied, “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans!”

Dr. Giordano’s quick-witted response spoke for the entire nation. Of course, he didn’t mean that we all agreed with Reagan’s policies. This was a brief moment in the Spring of 1981 when we put aside our political differences and came together as a nation. He meant that we all wanted to see the President recover quickly and completely.

Last Saturday, it happened again. This time, it was former President Donald Trump. Last Saturday, Trump spoke at an outdoor Pennsylvania event before formally accepting the Republican presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. During Trump’s speech, a lone gunman fired multiple times, killing a spectator, wounding two others, and grazing Trump’s ear.

This time, things are different. This time, we are not “all Republicans.” Maybe it has always been this way, but we only see it now because of social media and its ability to make content widely available without traditional media acting as gatekeepers. Since Saturday’s shooting, we have seen many people expressing that they wish the assassin had been successful in killing the former president.

Jacqueline Marsaw, a staffer for Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi wrote on Facebook, “I don’t condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time ooops that wasn’t me talking.”

Marsaw has since been fired and visited by local law enforcement and the Secret Service. Reflecting the deep divisions in our nation, she has also received hundreds of threats via phone, text, and social media.

Tenacious D, the comedy rock group made up of Jack Black and Kyle Gass was on tour in Australia on Gass’s birthday. When Gass was given a birthday cake on stage, he was asked to make a wish. Gass replied, “Don't miss Trump next time!”

Black canceled the remainder of the tour after Gass’ gaffe.

Closer to home, I had a friend post on social media, “2 inches away freedom.”

It is incredible to me that people who have been calling Trump a “threat to democracy” (I know, I know, we are a republic,) are wishing for a result that would have been the greatest threat to our republic in the last 50 years.

Readers of this column know that I am a conservative evangelical Republican. I understand that not everyone agrees with me. I hope those who hoped for Trump’s death are outliers, but I fear that these are only the people bold enough to share how they feel publicly.

Sadly, if President Biden were the victim of a similar assassination attempt, I suspect that there are those on my side who would respond in the same way.

I know that this is not 1981. I know that we are not all Republicans. I just wish we could all be Americans today.

David Chung is a Gazette Editorial Fellow. Comments: david.chung@thegazette.com