Today marks the grim anniversary of the near-miss attempt to assassinate President Trump in Butler, PA. Yet investigators are no closer to understanding the motivations of the troubled mind behind the attack. Heartlanders have had enough of political soapboxes in the aftermath of horror and disaster, and they wonder whether it’s too late and too little for Pam Bondi and the Epstein files. Pundits warn Trump to hose out the dumpster fire before it engulfs the administration.
Does Trump Know Why Someone Tried to Kill Him?
It has been a year since 20-year-old Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Donald Trump in Butler, PA. CBS released a detailed report on Crooks that included interviews “with more than two dozen friends, professors, law enforcement officials and others, as well as open records requests to half a dozen agencies and a review of thousands of documents.” So, what answers do we have as to why he felt the need to try his hand at political assassination? Bupkis. Crooks was using an encrypted email service and a virtual private network (VPN) while focusing on news, explosives, and ammo. What kind of news? Did Crooks buy into hateful propaganda and extreme news outlets spewing hate? What did he read and watch, and with whom did he make friends to have an encrypted email? Then he bought a rifle and practiced at a local range.
How does the Secret Service and Trump’s own Justice Department not have the “why” in the equation?
Well, swing-state voters have some answers.
Stacy Atkins in North Carolina commented: “It's amazing how little fault can be found when investigating yourself.” And in Ohio, Ray Chapman surmised: “[Crooks] was in a Black Rock commercial, money motivated.”
Jeffrey Ollikainen, in Bessemer, MI, has his own theories: “A mystery, hum. Ask the CIA.” And Steven Kabel of Prescott, AZ, weighed in too: “Well, other than the entire Democrat Party calling for it to happen – but other than that, they can't figure out what the motive was.”
When Playing Politics Backfires
The flash flood in Central Texas that killed 27 campers at Camp Mystic over the July Fourth weekend had the heartland feeling helpless and grief-stricken. Every local parish and church prayed to God to understand how such a thing could happen. As the faithful sought answers, they were interrupted by those insensitive enough to stake a political claim for the devastation. Now, those flyover folks are fired up.
“My partner, Sadé Perkins, has made comments on social media regarding the horrific flooding that devastated Camp Mystic,” stated Reverend Colin Bossen, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston. “I want to be clear that I disavow her comments.”
Perkins decided TikTok was a safe space for like-minded people to criticize the 99-year-old camp and attack conservatives. “With all the black people in East Texas, with all the Hispanic people in East Texas, somehow, some way, you have carved out an all-white, whites-only enclave in East Texas for your white children. I know I’m going to get cancelled for this, but Camp Mystic is a white-only girls’ Christian camp. They don’t even have a token Asian. They don’t have a token Black person. It’s an all-white, white-only conservative Christian camp,” Perkins declared in a TikTok video.
She continued after catching a breath, “If you ain’t white you ain’t right, you ain’t gettin’ in, you ain’t goin’. Period."
One commenter in the Southwest wrote: “You chose to post something Political on the graves of dead children. Unforgivable.”
The backdraft by the heartland reverberated: The Mayor of Houston declared her position on the Houston Food Insecurity Board null and void, and irate comments flooded Perkins' social media pages.
The next TikTok video posted featured Perkins with a gun at a firing range, warning people not to come to her house.
And that’s when the GiveSendGo funding page began to circulate, asking for $20,000 to help recover “from the reputational and emotional harm she’s enduring.” Sadé may want $20,000, but by Saturday, she was holding steady at just $1,340, with most donations appearing to be the $5 minimum, allowing donors to comment – and the comments aren’t nearly so generous.
Cindy Jones was appalled that a fellow Texan could be so cruel and opportunistic: “What has happened to people's humanity, compassion, and empathy? How can this catastrophic, deadly disaster not be heartbreaking to each and every one who has a heart and a soul?”
And in Helena, AR, Karen Herrington advised: “Put all that time and energy into something good and purposeful. Help out and up, not down.”
What Trump Is Missing
Trump creates his own weather pattern when he ventures into political issues. Folks from the back forty were the reason number 45 turned into 47. The interest piqued when the president pushed through his pick for Attorney General: Pam Bondi. Bondi spoke with Fox News’ Jesse Watters soon after confirmation, saying the Epstein files were on her desk and that the public would see “a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, [and] a lot, a lot of information.”
Megyn Kelly told Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk Friday: “Jeffrey Epstein’s not the most important thing on his agenda by any stretch of the imagination. I just don’t think this has captured his attention quite yet. But it needs to because it’s starting to create a real hornet’s nest within the administration, and I’ve got to be honest, I blame Pam Bondi.” She also called the AG incompetent.
There are wars to be thwarted, illegals to be deported, egg prices to maintain, and tariffs to levy. Donald Trump is a busy man. But the heartland wants answers about the Epstein files. Five short months after Bondi’s bold statement of lists and logs, now the DOJ whispers the deceased pedophile had no “client list,” and he surely did commit suicide.
Kelly is right about one glaring issue: The Epstein files – or, rather, the lack thereof – are infuriating voters across the heartland. In Michigan, Scott Shelton weighed in: “Maybe Trump has set a trap; he always seems to be ten steps ahead. Now we wait!”
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Editor's Note: From the Back Forty is Liberty Nation's longest-running and most popular weekly column.
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