Should this have surprised us? Because it kind of did.
Fantasizing about the Secret Service helping assassinate the president, now in the @nytimes. https://t.co/FbAHRG4TkG
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) October 24, 2018
Ben Domenech isn’t kidding. For some reason, the New York Times Book Review asked five spy and crime novelists to imagine the next chapter of President Trump’s term, so the odds were pretty good that at least one would end in his assassination, right?
Zoe Sharp was honored that her piece was included:
Honoured to be in @nytimesbooks this week alongside @ScottTurow @JoeFinder @LauraMLippman Jason Matthews. We were asked to write short fiction on what happens next on the US/Russia scene. https://t.co/tW8UVvNn8S
— Zoe Sharp (@authorzoesharp) October 24, 2018
Here’s an excerpt:
When it was time, he went downstairs, took his place in the lobby before the entourage appeared. The hotel staff had been lined up to see their boss, the president, go by. A few of them applauded. Most did not.
The president didn’t seem to notice. He waved, in his desultory fashion. The Secret Service agents clustered around him, ushered him toward the armored limo idling outside at the curb.
The Russian waited until they were a few steps past before he drew the gun. He sighted on the center of the president’s back, and squeezed the trigger.
Spoiler alert (like we give a damn): the gun misfires and the story ends with a Secret Service agent handing over his Glock and saying, “Here, use mine.”
Recommended
Now, what was the press saying about violent rhetoric and civility?
"[The Russian] opened his eyes. The Secret Service agent stood before him, presenting his Glock, butt first.
“Here,” the agent said politely. “Use mine. …”
Jesus Christ. The left has become so deranged after the 2016 election that this is now their masturbatory fantasy.
— Richard Alejandro (@realejandro85) October 24, 2018
Y’all are part of the reason trump will win 2020. Good job
— Alec pinto (@alec_pinto) October 24, 2018
Disgusting scum.
— ? nah ?♂️ (@StealthNathan) October 24, 2018
Stay classy @nytimesbooks
— GregoryLee Humphries (@UnderusedApple) October 24, 2018
What happened to MUH WORDS ARE VIOLENCE? That line ends whenever your words begin? Got it.
— Pure Emergy (@MattWilliams06) October 24, 2018
Really @nytimes it seems like the perfect time to print stories about political assasinations.
Get a public editor.
— ?spooky soros-rex? (@itsjasonborne) October 24, 2018
"He sighted on the center of the president’s back, and squeezed the trigger."
We'd better never hear a damned word about Trump inciting violence ever again.
— Hope Y'all Never Get It (@realFrankBell) October 24, 2018
Nice timing. Ricin, Pipe bombs, and assassinations, oh my. Enjoy the inevitable fallout. God I hope this murder porn doesn’t inspire any further political violence.
— Infinito Absurdum (@DeciduousWoulds) October 24, 2018
Well, the White House didn’t receive a pipe bomb today, but at least there’s an assassination fantasy to tide people over.
wow. you're revolting.
— Ivan Denisovich Shukhov ? #националист (@thedawson) October 24, 2018
So I guess fantasizing about a mass shooter going in and wasting the entire editorial department at the times is perfectly acceptable since after all it is fiction. You are one sick piece of work.
— Jim Andreu (@AndreuJim) October 24, 2018
Ah, writing fanfiction about shooting the President.
You should be ashamed to call yourself a writer. You're nothing but a yellow journalist hack. If some alt-right shithead had written an article fantasizing about murdering Clinton, I'd be saying the exact same thing.
— Derek S (@Derek_Sechi) October 24, 2018
Yes, fantasize about killing the man who utterly beat you, who rendered your dreams of globalist and American weakness irrelevant… you complete and total failure.?
— Mullah Archie (@harrytuttlehvac) October 24, 2018
Projection has reached this level. It had to. Be safe. Peace.
— Silence Dogood (@HarryDogood) October 24, 2018
Made it a quarter of the way through before I realized I’d need chemo by the end of it. If your political bias interferes with your writing THAT much, you should probably take a vacation. God that was cringe.
— Michael? (@mickeysixx6) October 24, 2018
A Tweet 24hrs old that already hasn't aged well.
— JimmyJJames (@JimmyJJames2) October 24, 2018
Not only a horrible story but printed at exactly the wrong time — good work, New York Times.
Related:
Johnny Depp apparently thought this was the ideal time to muse about presidential assassinations https://t.co/YsMFLNmaSi
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 23, 2017
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