Nicole Johnston

Bill, you've written about how political violence is always alive in America, hidden just out of sight.

So did the events at the White House Correspondents' Dinner come as a surprise to you, or was there almost a certain inevitability that this was bound to happen again at some point?

So this is the third assassination attempt on Trump in less than two years.

There was so much focus on Trump's response to the Pennsylvania attack when he pumped his fist and shouted, fight, fight, fight.

But how would you compare and describe Trump's response this time round?

And do you think that President Trump and the MAGA world will try to capitalize on this politically?

Yeah, it is quite a segue to go from assassination to ballroom construction.

But what does all of this say about the state of Trump's presidency right now?

Coming up, could we see more assassination attempts?

Bill, political violence is nothing new in America.

Could you give us a bit of the background to it, the history of how prevalent it's become?

So, Bill, aside from the guns, though, what else do you think is behind this surge that we're seeing in political violence?

Yeah, it is.

Given this disturbing tone of the debate and everything that's happened, do you think that we'll basically see more assassination attempts, more acts of political violence in the near future, given how divided America seems to be?

Bill, it's been great talking to you.

Thanks for joining us.

Also in the news, former PM Malcolm Turnbull has lashed out at his party's decision to preference One Nation in the Farah by-election.

Turnbull says it's a retrograde move that would have been inconceivable during his, Tony Abbott's or John Howard's prime ministership.

He argues that racism and division is One Nation's M.O.

and as a result they should be preference last by the Liberal Party.