Speaking to ERR early Sunday morning following news of the shooting, in which shots rang out at a rally in Butler, Pennslyvania, that he did not want to draw any deeper conclusions about the incident at this moment.

Saks said: "We do not know the exact motive and background of the shooter."

"We know that he has been killed, and that former President Trump was not seriously injured," Saks went on.

"In America, gun-related violence is very common. In that sense, there are many potential candidates [for causes]. The event will certainly not have a positive impact on the American presidential campaign or politics as a whole. That much is certain."

The incident will lead to increased polarization in U.S. society, Saks added.

"I think what this event will bring about is clearly a deepening of polarization in society, plus some very strong emotions. Consequently, serious political debate will certainly ebb, at least initially, in the short term," the expert said.

"We know that the entire American media will rush to deconstruct this event from every conceivable angle, so I wouldn't expect any particularly rational treatment of it, and it will result in a huge number of different conspiracy theories and all kinds of other theories, which the American media will vie for attention with," Saks continued.

Saks said that the attack will serve to make the political atmosphere in the U.S. very unstable. "The political climate in the country, or the general atmosphere, will now become completely unstable, for at least some time, where rational treatment may not be prevalent whatsoever."

Saks noted that much also hinges on what Trump himself says about the incident.

Sitting President Joe Biden is unlikely to try to profit from the event and has already publicly condemned it.

Saks said: "President Biden has communicated with him (Trump – ed.) and I believe that Biden will not be rushing to exploit this event in any way."

"I am quite certain that we will also see a very, very emotional reaction from the Republicans in the near future. I won't venture to state what specific events might happen right now, but the atmosphere and mood in America will certainly become very emotional in the weeks to come," he added.

Neither Trump nor Biden are yet officially candidates for their respective parties but are assumed to be running against each other and have already concluded one head-to-head TV debate.

Saks noted that ensuring the full security of candidates is always a challenging task for the U.S. Secret Service, as it involves public events, such as the rally in Butler.

"We saw now that they were able to respond and prevent the worst. ... The most difficult thing is dealing with a lone lunatic, who plans something by themselves without communicating with anyone. In fact, it is impossible to take any fully preventive action against this."

Donald Trump was rushed off stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after a gunman opened fire from a nearby building while he was addressing a crowd in Butler, to the north of Pittsburgh. Shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Several shots rang out and Trump ducked below the podium, and was soon enveloped by secret service personal as heavily armed personnel also appeared. While being bundled off he appeared to raise his fist in an apparent act of defiance. He incurred a minor injury to his ear according to reports, and was taken to a hospital later in the evening; several audience members were also hit in the attack, and one spectator was reportedly killed.

The alleged lone gunman was killed by a United States Secret Service Counter Assault Team sniper soon after the shooting, and his body was visible on top of a nearby roof for some time afterwards.

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