As dramatic images of the failed assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump spread around the world Saturday, news of the attack also sparked immerse online interest – as well as pointed criticism of the US – on China’s heavily censored internet.
Discussion of the assassination attempt dominated Chinese social media in the hours after the attack.
Related hashtags garnered hundreds of millions of views on China’s X-like social media platform Weibo, where Trump – who as president played an outsized role in reframing the US-China relationship into the more contentious one that exists today – has for years been a frequent subject of discussion, fascination and often ridicule.
Some social media users were quick to hail former president and presumptive Republican US presidential nominee as “lucky” that he didn’t sustain more serious injury and praised Trump’s “quick reflexes,” while many others made quips about how the situation would boost his re-election bid.
One blogger with over a million followers noted that the incident made Trump look more like a “a traditional Hollywood president.”
There were also repeated links made between the attack and recurring instances of gun violence in the United States, which are often highlighted by Chinese state media as an example of the country’s failings.
