It should go without saying. But I condemn the attack. Violence is not the way to solve our political problems. It's worth remembering that Trump was not the only victim. A participant in the rally was killed, and 2 others wounded. The shooting of these people is even more reprehensible than that of Trump. No one deserves to die merely for attending a political rally.
Despite gaslighting to the contrary, there is no contradiction between condemning the attack and saying that Trump is an authoritarian and a menace to democracy. The man tried to use force and fraud to stay in power after losing an election, threatens to use the power of government to punish political opponents, and more. Pointing this out was and is justified. It's true Trump isn't Hitler. But being a run-of-the-mill wannabe dictator is bad enough. Certainly enough to justify severe condemnation and harsh rhetoric.
It's worth noting that virtually all prominent Democrats, from Biden on down, condemned yesterday's attack without reservation. By contrast, Trump and many of his allies defend and praise the January 6 attackers (Trump calls them "patriots" and the like) and make light of other political violence by their supporters (e.g. - the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband). For those keeping score, prominent Dems also condemned the post-George Floyd riots. There's lots of bad people and politicians who abuse power in both parties (e.g.- I have condemned Biden's repeated raiding the treasury for his student loan forgiveness program). But when it comes to promoting and excusing political violence, the two parties are NOT morally equivalent.
We now know the shooter was a registered Republican and also once donated $15 to Act Blue (a left-wing political fundraising group). This combination is less surprising than it might seem. Many people have unusual political views that don't neatly fit the left-right spectrum. That's true of many perpetrators of political assassinations, as well. This guy may have had weird political motives that only make sense to him. Alternatively, he could have had a nonpolitical motive that was even weirder. Recall that John Hinckley (the man who almost killed Reagan), did it because he thought it would impress Jodie Foster and persuade her to go out with him. We may learn more about the current shooter's motives in coming days. Until then, avoid unsupported claims about them.
I fear Trump will get a sympathy boost from this event. It may be only a couple points. But that could be decisive in close election. If so, it is even more imperative than before that Dems replace Biden with a stronger candidate.
Those who claim the Dems/Biden were trying to get Trump killed in order to stay in power should recall that, if Trump were killed, the GOP could replace him with a more popular candidate, who would ALSO get a sympathy boost from the assassination. Biden's narrow self-interest was better served by keeping Trump as his opponent. There are other problems with the conspiracy theory, as well. But this is a big one I haven't seen mentioned.