WASHINGTON (AP) — “Tone it down!”
That is Plea One Republican senator Assassination attempt Against Donald Trump at a political rally in the Butler Farms area where he grew up.
“I’m troubled by what happened to the United States of America and how it happened,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania) told The Associated Press early Sunday.
The shocking attempt on President Trump’s life has highlighted the dangerous atmosphere in American politics. While the details of the attacker’s motive are unclear, this violence is yet another example of how what was once unacceptable and unthinkable in American society has become painfully commonplace.
As 2024 Election As we enter a critical juncture ahead of the national convention, the first test will be how the public responds. Presidential Election Since 2020, there have been efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat and January 6, 2021, Attack At the United States Capitol.
On Sunday, civic leaders, pastors and elected officials from the president Joe Biden Under Calling on Americans to unite Encourage them to stop making hateful remarks.
“We cannot allow this violence to become normalized,” President Biden said in an evening address to the nation from the Oval Office.
What you need to know about the 2024 election
In a tense atmosphere, Republican National Convention The nomination meets for re-election this week in Milwaukee. Trump Meanwhile, Democrats are preparing for their convention next month, with it unclear whether they will support incumbent Biden in an expected rematch.
Trump’s rhetoric softened immediately after the shooting but has taken on a deeper, darker tone as he campaigns for his third White House election.
This spring, he accused immigrants of “poisoning the nation’s blood.” He vowed to launch the nation’s largest deportation operation.told autoworkers, “ Bloody Tragedy If he is not re-elected, there will no longer be a “president” in this country.
“If I don’t win, I think it’s the end of the country,” he said during the New Hampshire primary.
Trump has vowed to retaliate against his political opponents, particularly at the Justice Department, after he was indicted on federal charges. Confidential document storage Mar-a-Lago home Plots to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump downplayed the violence. Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, He was attacked by an intruder searching for the former Speaker of the House. When his wife was hit over the head with a hammer at their San Francisco home in 2022, Trump mocked the security fence she had installed as inadequate.
“By the way, what about her husband?” Trump asked during a speech before California Republican lawmakers last year, drawing laughter.
Biden, meanwhile, has warned that Trump’s return to power poses a grave threat to the country’s civic traditions. He chose nearby Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, as a campaign base. The first campaign event of 2024perhaps a rematch is “everything” Democracy You can survive.
Addressing the nation on Sunday, Biden pointed to past examples of political unrest, including Jan. 6 and the recent harassment of election workers, and said “violence like this, any violence, has no place in America.”
Still, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, one of Trump’s running mates, said on social media over the weekend that Biden’s previous comments about Trump “directly led to the assassination attempt.”
And House Speaker Mike Johnson said “it’s time to turn down the temperature in our country,” blasting President Biden’s recent comments during a conference call with political donors that “it’s time to target Trump.”
Johnson said he understood Biden was not literally saying Trump should be targeted, but added that “such comments on either side should be condemned.”
Nick Beauchamp, an associate professor of political science at Northeastern University in Boston, said there is now an opportunity for political leaders to “start framing their criticism of others in terms that clearly condemn violence.”
From the 1968 murders American Leaders Violent tensions have always been a part of American politics, from the riots of Bobby F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. to the attack on President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and the shootings of Republicans and Democrats over the past decade.
More recently, other violent incidents have intersected in frightening ways with the country’s political struggles.
A man with a knife and a gun was killed outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s suburban home. Threatened to kill In 2022, the judge was arrested; members of Congress are experiencing increased security threats; and harassment City and state election boards across the country The wave of retirement Because their lives are threatened.
Last summer, FBI agents shot and killed a Utah man. Threatened to assassinate He supported Biden and described himself as a “MAGA Trump supporter.” This follows a series of drive-by shootings targeting Democrats in New Mexico that led to a stunning outburst that led to criminal charges against Biden. Unsuccessful state legislative candidate He is someone who has repeated Trump’s rhetoric about election fraud.
The gunman who died in a shootout after trying to break into the FBI’s Cincinnati office in 2022 appeared to have called on people to kill federal agents “on sight” on social media following a raid at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
“The warning lights about violence during this election have been flashing red for months, if not years, now,” said Jacob Ware, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who specializes in domestic terrorism.
Trump took the stage on Saturday evening, opening his Pennsylvania rally as he typically does, by marveling at the “large and wonderful crowd” that had gathered to see him and dismissing Biden’s crowd as insignificant in comparison.
The former president had just begun his speech. Mass Deportation Plan and dissatisfaction with the nation’s decline.
“Our country is going to hell,” Trump said.
A few minutes later, gunshots rang out.
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, who sat behind Trump with other Republican leaders, called the incident simply a terrible tragedy. “The level of civility and lack of hostility, maybe this should be a warning to everybody to calm down,” he told The Associated Press.
As Americans reckoned on Sunday, the common message was a call for unity.
The Rev. Chris Morgan, senior pastor at Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park, a few blocks from the shooter’s home, called on his congregants to pray for the country during a morning service.
“Obviously there’s a lot going on and people are feeling great anxiety and distress,” he said. “I ask everyone to pray that those caught up in this incident will understand what it means to show kindness to others.”
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Associated Press writers Ali Swenson, Brian Slodisko and Holly Meyer contributed to this report.
