Biden Urges Unity After Trump’s Shooting In Rare Oval Office Address

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden implored candidates to cool their rhetoric after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, warning the nation was heading down a dangerous path in which violence subverts the will of Americans. 

Speaking in a rare Oval Office address, Biden said the November election would “shape the future of America and the world for decades to come” but insisted that the country must resolve its differences through democracy.

“That’s how we do it — at the ballot box, not with bullets,” Biden said during his six-minute speech. “The power to change America should always rest in the hands of the people, not the hands of a would-be assassin.”

Biden used the national address as an attempt to rise above the fray, condemning the shooting incident which injured Trump and left a Pennsylvania rallygoer dead. He said the incident was the latest example of a rash of political violence and outlined a path forward from the chaos and bloodshed that have become all too common in American political life. 

But the speech also had an important political function for a beleaguered president whose opponent’s iconic, bloodied, fist-pumping response to the attempted assassination seems certain to rally popular support.

Central to any hopes of Biden retaining the presidency is convincing Americans the chilling violence that unfolded Saturday in a western Pennsylvania field doesn’t undercut the core premise of his presidency — to restore decency and normalcy — but rather makes the case for his leadership.

“The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that,” he said.

The intense focus on the attempted assassination does offer Biden a reprieve from the conversation that had dominated headlines for weeks: whether he should withdraw after his disastrous debate. 

One Democratic donor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that they previously believed the party would be best served by replacing Biden, but there’s no way that could happen now without contributing to a sense of chaos.

But an exhausted acceptance of Biden is hardly grist to reinvigorate an ailing campaign. Early indications are that the violence galvanized support behind Trump. Business leaders Elon Musk and Bill Ackman, who previously resisted endorsing the former president, came out with public statements backing the likely Republican nominee within minutes of his being struck. 

It will be days or weeks before public opinion surveys are released assessing the aftermath. But former President Ronald Reagan saw a substantial increase in support when he was shot and wounded in 1981. Many presidential historians say that attack cemented his status in the conservative movement.

By contrast, Biden must balance how to push forward without seeming insensitive.

The president’s campaign said it would pause messaging and television ads. Biden postponed a Monday speech in Austin to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. His campaign canceled a Monday event counter-programming the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Vice President Kamala Harris delayed political travel originally scheduled for Tuesday in Florida, according to a campaign official. 

Biden will not be off the road for long. He still plans to travel to Las Vegas to address Black and Latino advocacy groups on Tuesday and Wednesday and sit for another interview with BET, the White House said. 

And while the president intends to use a prime-time interview with NBC News on Monday to reiterate his condemnation of political violence, his political operation will then pivot back to drawing contrasts between Biden’s vision and Trump’s, a campaign official said. Biden will not shy away from talking about the stakes of the election, and his campaign sees the tragedy in Pennsylvania as reinforcing the central thesis of his campaign, the official added.

Biden badly needs to reverse his standing — and quickly. He trails Trump by nearly 3 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. 

Republican Criticism 

Figures on both sides of the aisle have called for leaders to rise above the political fray and attempt to heal national divisions. The shooting confirmed the fears of half of swing-state voters, who said in a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll in May that they were worried about violence surrounding the election. 

While law enforcement officials, and Trump himself, have not ascribed a motive to the shooter, some Republicans have already made unsubstantiated claims blaming Biden for motivating the would-be assassin. 

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a possible Trump running mate, posted on X. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

The Biden campaign official denounced the criticism from some GOP lawmakers, calling politicization of the tragedy an unacceptable abdication of leadership. Supporters of the president pointed to his call for unity after the shooting. Biden said he had a “short but good” call with Trump.

Still, the failed assassination attempt shifts the dynamics of the race in Trump’s favor. It also allows the Republican to orient his own campaign around a unity message, despite spending the past decade engaged in deeply personal political fights. In the hours after the shooting, Trump reached out personally to primary opponent Nikki Haley to invite her to speak at the Republican convention, and has encouraged other featured guests to tone down their rhetoric, according to a person familiar with his efforts.

Twist of Fate 

It’s a remarkable twist of fate for Trump, who has glorified violence throughout his political career, from encouraging rally attendees in 2016 to “knock the crap” out of protesters to telling supporters to “fight like hell” on Jan. 6, 2021, just before they stormed the Capitol. 

Republican pollster Frank Luntz said the shooting guarantees “every Trump voter will actually vote,” while Biden won’t be able to count on that certainty. The biggest effect is likely to be in battleground Pennsylvania — a must-win for Biden — because that is where the shooting occurred, he said.

“The long and winding road for Joe Biden just became even longer and windier,” Luntz posted on X. “The shooting of Donald Trump will be significantly consequential in a way the shooter never intended.”

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