'Unpredictable and dangerous': Analyst says assassination try may push Trump over the edge

Former President Donald Trump could respond to the recent apparent attempt to assassinate him by becoming more extreme — even if it puts lives at risk, a new political analysis contends.

Trump's refusal to heed warnings that he endangers lives by repeating false claims that Haitians eat pets, and his repeated claims that the Justice Department has been weaponized against him suggest any renewed calls for unity likely will not last, CNN's Stephen Collinson argued Monday.

"In the days after narrowly cheating death or serious injury in Pennsylvania when a bullet grazed his ear, Trump seemed chastened," Collinson wrote.

"But ever since, he has returned to his rambunctious self and, if anything, his rhetoric has become even more extreme."

Collinson's commentary comes just one day after the U.S. Secret Service captured a gunman they say attempted to assassinate Trump outside his Palm Beach golf course and 50 days before the presidential election.

The attempt took place almost exactly two months after 20-year-old Thomas Michael Crooks took a shot at Trump — and lost his own life in the process — on July 13.

Collinson noted Monday that Trump ultimately proved unable to maintain messaging that he could be a president for all Americans.

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"[Trump's] unity pledge didn’t last much longer than the first third of his speech at the Republican National Convention, which degenerated into the characteristic divisiveness on which he built his political career," Collison wrote.

Trump's rhetoric then became even more extreme as Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket and her party gained a surge in momentum, Collinson reported.

With Election Day drawing near, Trump may be tempted to maintain that extremist demeanor, Collinson argued. Meanwhile, voters will likely begin to ask themselves how much that extremism has contributed to a dark period in American history.

"There will be debate about the extent to which the former president — a uniquely inflammatory figure — has helped to stoke the nation’s divides," Collinson wrote.

"Ultimately, it’s going to be up to voters to sort out this unpredictable and dangerous campaign season."