CNN
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There is no political playbook for how to handle another assassination attempt on a major party presidential candidate within weeks of the election.

Yet that is where the rival campaigns now find themselves after what appears to be a second attempt to assassinate Republican nominee Donald Trump, the latest twist in a political season that defies precedent and underscores the deep polarization in the country.

Twice in two months, America has narrowly escaped the tragedy of the assassination of a major political figure during an election season — and the toxic forces such a scandal could unleash in a country wracked by deep partisan divisions.

That such incidents are happening at all speaks to the undercurrent of violence that casts a constant shadow over American politics, one that is exacerbated by the ready availability of firearms. With both nominees addressing outdoor audiences from behind bulletproof screens, there will be new fears that a stormy period leading up to Election Day could send the country further down a dark path.

After decades without an assassination attempt on a top executive branch official, a chilling reality has come to light this year: Those who run for the highest office may be risking their lives.

Quick reactions from Trump’s friends and foes

Vice President Kamala Harris, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and President Joe Biden all quickly expressed relief that an individual suspected of attempting to attack Trump at one of his Florida golf courses was caught before he could make a move and that the former president was safe. Harris said she was aware of the incident and wrote on social media, “I’m glad he’s safe. Violence has no place in America.”

As crude as it may be to immediately think about the political consequences of an attempted assassination, in America everything becomes politicized within minutes, especially since there are only 50 days left until the close election.

Trump — who stood up and said “fight, fight, fight” within seconds of surviving his first, much closer assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 — quickly sent out an email Sunday afternoon reading “I’m safe and sound!”

“Nothing will stop me. I will NEVER SURRENDER!” Trump wrote in the email, which linked to a site where supporters could donate.

And one of the ex-president’s key allies, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, issued a statement echoing the idea that Trump had been spared by divine providence, a recurring theme at the Republican National Convention. The House GOP conference chair suggested that after what had happened, the country now had a duty to elect Trump. “Thankfully, God continues to watch over President Trump. As Americans, we must unite behind him in November to protect our republic and restore peace to the world,” she said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday, also suggested that Trump had benefited from divine intervention and played into the narrative that Trump is unbeatable. “No leader (in) American history has weathered more attacks and remained so strong and resilient. He is unstoppable.”

That sense of divine protection gave Trump’s supporters at the Milwaukee convention the feeling that he was destined for victory. Such assumptions were tempered, however, when Biden suspended his reelection bid, allowing Harris to step in and transform the contest.

The man arrested for the suspected attempted murder was spotted by the Secret Service a few holes away from the former president at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Stefanik asked how “an assassin was allowed to get so close to President Trump again?” She wrote: “There is still a lack of answers about the horrific assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and we expect a clear explanation for what happened today in Florida.” The New York Republican’s questioning by the Secret Service is likely to foreshadow a debate in the coming days over the level of protection afforded to the former president — especially given what happened in Butler.

Trump has already suggested, without evidence, that the Biden administration and Harris were complicit in the Pennsylvania assassination attempt because he claims they used the Justice Department against him. But all of Trump’s criminal problems have been dealt with through the normal course of the courts, and there is no evidence that the White House is involved in any way.

The second apparent assassination attempt comes against the backdrop of a turbulent campaign that defies convention and prediction. For the first time since 1968, a sitting president has abandoned his reelection campaign within months of the election, reluctantly making way for his vice president, who has a shot at becoming the first black woman and commander in chief from South Asia. The Republican nominee is a convicted felon who faces multiple criminal charges in his unprecedented bid to cling to power after losing the last election. If he returns to the White House, Trump would become only the second president to lose reelection and win a nonconsecutive second term.

The ex-president’s actions in the coming days will be closely watched. After the first assassination attempt, the ex-president called on the country to come together. But his 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.

Trump has also repeatedly ignored advice from senior Republicans and his campaign team to stick to a sharp, concise argument against Harris. They want him to focus on her role in the Biden administration’s economic policies at a time when many voters are still struggling with high prices despite a decline in inflation. So even if his advisers urge him to renew his theme of national unity, there’s no guarantee Trump will listen or consider it in his political interest.

Another attempt on his life is likely to have some degree of personal impact on the former president. In the days after he narrowly escaped death or serious injury in Pennsylvania when a bullet grazed his ear, Trump appeared embarrassed. But he has since returned to his effusive self, and his rhetoric has become even more extreme. He recently warned his political opponents that he would turn the law against them and lock them up if he deemed the election fraudulent, and he has doubled down on his baseless claims that the last election was stolen.

In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s incident, the focus for most of Trump’s opponents was on maintaining calm at an unpredictable moment. There is no justification in a democracy for trying to silence a political figure through violence. At the same time, there will be a debate in the coming days about the extent to which the former president — a uniquely incendiary figure — has helped stoke divisions in the country.

Earlier this weekend, for example, the former president and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, ratcheted up political tensions. Both Republicans pushed unsubstantiated claims that Haitian refugees in Springfield, Ohio, stole and ate pets. Trump’s opponents have warned that his ongoing racial demagoguery is putting lives at risk.

In a controversial interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Vance insisted that the claims about the Haitian migrants — who are in the United States legally — were validated by complaints from some of his constituents. And rather than distance himself from the story — despite testimony from multiple local officials that there is no truth to the rumor — Vance angrily denounced suggestions that recent bomb threats against the city had anything to do with him and Trump stoking the claims. He told Dana Bash, “This city has suffered terribly because of the problem — because of the Kamala Harris administration.”

But Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, asked on ABC on Sunday whether he had seen any evidence of the pet-eating rumors, said, “No. Absolutely not.” The Ohio governor added that the Haitian migrants, whom Trump threatened to deport to Venezuela on Friday, were in the country legally.

Under normal circumstances, you might expect an apparent assassination attempt on a presidential candidate to unleash a wave of sympathy that could translate into political momentum. But Trump’s latest near-victory comes as his race with Harris is neck and neck. With both candidates jockeying for perhaps hundreds of thousands of movable voters in swing states, it’s unclear how much room there is for changing perceptions of Trump, who has been a polarizing figure since his first national campaign in 2015.

The former president will almost certainly use the latest events to bolster his baseless claim that he is the victim of a persecution designed to keep him from power. But it is too early to tell whether the second apparent assassination attempt will have a greater political impact than the first.

Ultimately, it is voters who must find a solution to this unpredictable and dangerous campaign season.