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In the aftermath of Saturday's dreadful assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that killed one innocent bystander and critically wounded two others, the United States is palpably tense. Republicans believe that the long war against their standard bearer has reached a new and more violent phase, while Democrats fear both that an emboldened Trump will ride public sympathy to victory and that his followers will seek vengeance at a time of their choosing. But while we cannot predict the shape of the fallout, much depends on whether the high tensions in Washington lead political elites to drizzle kerosene on the fire or to try to put it out.
Leading Democrats immediately released similar statements designed to communicate their lack of interest in further escalation as well as their commitment to the peaceful resolution of political disputes. That tone started with embattled President Joe Biden, who said that "There's no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it." In a Sunday night address to the nation, the president said, "Unity is the most elusive goal of all. But nothing is as important as that right now." Would he like to have his post-debate comment to donors that "It's time to put Trump in the bullseye" back? I'm sure he would and honestly it would help if he apologized, even if the comment is being disingenuously taken out of context.
But unlike the countless Republicans who either made light of the attempted murder of Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul in 2022 or who tried to explain it away with conspiracy theories, Democrats reacted soberly from top to bottom. Vice President Kamala Harris stated that, "We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting... We must all condemn this abhorrent act and do our part to ensure that it does not lead to more violence." No Democratic backbenchers in the House joked about how they wished the shooter had better aim or whatever.
Not so much on the other side. While House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) initially said that "It's time to dial down the rhetoric," and refrained from blaming everyone on the left for the still-motiveless act of a single 20-year-old, he later pointed the finger at Democrats. "When the message goes out constantly that the election of Donald Trump would be a threat to democracy and that the republic would end, I mean it heats up the environment," he said on NBC's Today.
Others in the GOP were quicker to blame Democrats. Trump's rumored running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), argued that Biden's rhetoric about democracy "led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination." Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) took to X to say that "The Republican District Attorney in Butler County, PA, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination." Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote, "They tried to impeach him. They are trying to imprison him. Now, they have tried to assassinate him." Gaetz didn't specify who "they" were, which was convenient given that the shooter, despite one tiny 2021 donation to a progressive political group, was a registered Republican who classmates say was not obviously political and who may have taken his motive to the grave, just like the 2017 Las Vegas shooter.
That means that the attempt to blame Democrats for this is quite ludicrous, and very much in keeping with the GOP's bad-faith approach to politics of the past generation. It is not the responsibility of Democrats to mute their criticism of Trump's copious threats to the democratic order. Democrats didn't force him to say that he would order investigations of his political rivals. They didn't force him to explore using the insurrection act to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. They didn't force him to whip his heavily armed followers into a froth of madness and retribution and then watch for hours as they marauded through the U.S. Capitol, some hunting members of Congress, others posing for pictures. They didn't force him to convince millions of rank-and-file Republicans to believe the hallucination that the election was stolen.
What exactly are people supposed to do with his deranged claim that he will be a dictator on day one of his presidency but then after that he'll be normal? That he wants to suspend the U.S. Constitution? That he will "root out" his political enemies on the left "like vermin?" That just like in 2016 and 2020, he refuses to accept the legitimacy of any election he doesn't win? He literally just did this on national television.
There is no contradiction in believing a politician to be an existential threat to democracy and not wanting that person to be murdered. I am as enmeshed in progressive social networks as anyone, and everyone I know was horrified. Everyone. There were no texts flying back and forth saying "This is great, I love this. More attempted killings, please." There was, instead, an almost immediate recognition of the gravity of the situation—not just that Trump could benefit from the halo effect of dodging the bullet, but that if political figures start dropping from gunfire, our political predicament will be even more serious than it already is. And it is already quite serious.
It's been a generation since anyone experienced the unique anguish of a gunman targeting a president or former president. And the attempt on Trump's life comes at a particularly inopportune time in American life. After decades of worsening partisan polarization, too many Americans on both sides believe that violence against political opponents can sometimes be justified. Record-high numbers of Americans say that democracy isn't working. Democrats and Republicans both believe that the other side wants to destroy the country. The tectonic plates of mistrust and anger are inches from causing an eruption. This was the last thing we needed.
That means that our near-term fate is in many ways in the hands of would-be assassin's target, the 45th president who is now attempting to become the 47th. If he and his party can call for calm and perhaps even take some responsibility for the environment of terror and tension that he himself helped create at this week's convention, they would help both Trump's campaign and the country.
David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. His writing has appeared in The Week, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Washington Monthly and more. You can find him on Twitter @davidmfaris.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
