“We will not fear, but will stand firm in our convictions and in the face of evil,” Trump wrote on social media on Sunday. “Now, more than ever, it is important that we come together, show our true American character, stay strong and resolute, and do not let evil win.”
So this brink of personal death and national disaster presents Trump with an unwanted but golden opportunity to cool the country’s political temperature and set a new course, a chance to demonstrate that there is a more constructive way forward.
This responsibility does not belong solely to Trump. Self-examination is required by all participants in our civic life. The motive of the shooter in Butler, Pennsylvania, is unknown at the time of writing. But that it was politically motivated should prompt deeper reconsideration. Behavior that was once considered unthinkably disrespectful is now commonplace. We live in a country where protesters bring bullhorns to the homes of lawmakers, judges, journalists and business leaders to harass them while shouting obscenities. Colleges have become battlefields. And overt physical violence has become a bipartisan danger, as Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have attested. Ordinary citizens get caught up in the mayhem, but they can also get caught up in the extraordinary, as in the case of volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, who lost his life Saturday trying to protect his family from a bullet.
In her own statement, former First Lady Melania Trump appealed to our common humanity. “The monsters who viewed my husband as a dehumanizing political machine tried to stifle Donald’s passion,” she wrote. While Trump is right that there is too much name-calling and dehumanization in politics, we must also acknowledge that her husband is to blame for calling his fellow Americans “traitors who hate America.”
Democrats also need to change their rhetoric. “It’s time to call out Trump hard,” Biden said in a speech to campaign donors on Monday. On Sunday, he struck an appropriate tone, writing on X that “unity is the hardest goal to achieve, but nothing is more important right now.”
In contrast to the many bipartisan calls for calm and unity in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, those unfortunately exaggerating the threat from the right included Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who is reportedly being considered as Trump’s running mate, who quickly posted on X that the Biden campaign’s comments “directly led” to the assassination attempt. Trump’s attorney, Vivek Ramaswami, said the shooting was “not shocking at all,” adding, “First they sued Trump. Then they indicted him. Then they tried to stop him from running.”
Be wary of anyone who frames such sentences around the word “they.” At their national convention in Milwaukee this week, Republicans will take to the microphone in prime time to appeal to voters unhappy with their choices in the 2024 election. In fact, they will have the national stage all to themselves. Democrats have wisely paused their campaign ads to exercise moderation. Moderation is what Trump and the Republican Party should reward.
As many have suggested, the assassins’ failure may have been providential: Trump’s murder could have plunged the United States into political darkness. Now all Americans have a chance to step into the light.
