Donald Trump was recovering Sunday morning at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, after the assassination attempt that nearly killed him less than 24 hours earlier at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
More than 200 miles south in Washington, Joe Biden was meeting with top advisers in the White House Situation Room to assess his own response to a shooting that could change the trajectory of American politics — and the world.
Across the country, Republicans and Democrats alike were reeling from the latest wave of political violence to rock the nation, renewing fears that American democracy could once again become a cauldron of tension, anger and toxicity as it did in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The assassination attempt “will inevitably be linked in people’s minds, not just to the shooter and even the candidate, but to the broader culture,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University.
In the immediate aftermath, the assassination attempt emboldened Trump and appeared to give him new momentum in the race for the White House — at a time when world leaders were already adjusting to the prospect of his second presidency, some with trepidation, others with satisfaction.
The image of a bloodied Trump, pumping his fist in the air as he was rushed away by the Secret Service, has already become a totemic – even messianic – symbol of his political comeback after his series of legal troubles, including a criminal conviction in New York earlier this year.
The former president already has an edge over Biden in polls ahead of November’s general election, both nationally and in most key swing states.
Trump has recently benefited from Biden’s disastrous performance in last month’s presidential debate, as well as court rulings that helped delay federal trials over his handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the last election.
Today, Trump’s allies believe that these attacks will boost his electoral appeal, making the Republican base more determined to vote for him and attracting the sympathy of independent and undecided voters.
“In recent months, President Trump has enjoyed more passionate and engaged supporters than the Biden campaign, but the shooting will turn that intensity gap into a chasm,” veteran pollster Frank Luntz wrote on X Sunday.
Equally important, Trump, Biden and Democrats’ close associates may now find it difficult to attack him on the campaign trail. Hours after the shooting, the president’s campaign suspended some of its ads.
“One of the main themes of Joe Biden’s campaign was that Trump was a threat to democracy,” said Bryan Lanza, a former Trump adviser who remains close to the former president’s campaign.
“Biden can’t use that kind of rhetoric anymore. If he doesn’t have that kind of rhetoric anymore and he has a negative record on fighting inflation, immigration and preventing foreign wars, what message can he send?”
The attempted assassination of Trump came just before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week, where he will be crowned the party’s presidential nominee — and enshrined in the minds of his supporters as a political fighter and survivor for the ages.
“A lot of people love this man. He’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. He has the ability to roll with the punches like anybody I’ve ever met. Obviously, God is not done with President Trump,” Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, told NBC on Sunday.
Alongside this sense of divine intervention from some Republicans, darker threats – and anger – have been made. One close Trump ally said members of the former president’s camp were as “upset” as they were defiant.
Anger is growing at the Secret Service for failing to secure the rooftop the alleged assassin used for his deadly attack. Several Republicans close to Trump, including Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a possible vice presidential candidate, have directly accused Biden of fomenting the attack, saying Trump is a threat to American democracy. Mike Collins, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, even wrote on social media that Biden had “sent the orders.”
So far, Trump has not participated in the accusations. “It is more important than ever that we stand together and show our true character as Americans, by remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to win,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social. He added that he still plans to travel to Wisconsin on Sunday.
Nikki Haley, who attacked Trump during the Republican primaries for leaving a trail of “chaos” in party politics, has accepted a late invitation to speak at the Republican convention.
But Trump may still fail to capitalize if he does not remain measured in his response — a plausible scenario given his political history of preferring to anger his base rather than appeal to the center.
In Washington, Democrats called for calm, refraining from criticizing Trump’s inflammatory remarks over the years and vowing to punish his political opponents, saying the tone of American politics needed to change overall.
“We need to dial down the rhetoric and tone. I urge people to turn off their phones and disconnect from social media today, spend time with their families and reflect on who we are as a nation and who we want to be,” Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons told NBC.
Biden, who is battling a rebellion from Democrats demanding he withdraw from the presidential race in favor of a younger candidate, was scheduled to address the nation in a prime-time speech Sunday night from the Oval Office — a chance for him to show leadership and unity at a time of national crisis. There have been no new calls from Democrats to step down since the assassination attempt.
But at a time when American politics is so tense and rhetoric so aggressive, it is far from clear how long a tentative truce between right and left can last.
Dark fears that the rematch between Trump and Biden could be marred by further violence – either in the months leading up to the vote or after it – were omnipresent Sunday.
“Violence is more common than we think… it’s a dangerous aspect of our political situation,” Zelizer said. “We’re living in extreme times where violence is becoming incredibly dangerous and should remind everyone how dire the situation can be.”
News Source : www.ft.com
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