After Trump shooting, rhetorical challenge for Democrats is bigger than ever
President Joe Biden walks onstage to speak during the NAACP National Convention July 16, 2024, in Las Vegas.
David Becker/AP
WASHINGTON and LAS VEGAS
Since last weekend, President Joe Biden鈥檚 path to reelection has gotten even rockier.聽
In polls, the race against Republican nominee Donald Trump remains close. But Saturday鈥檚 assassination attempt on the former president has reshaped the race in ways large and small 鈥撀燼nd potentially consequential.聽
Security is tighter. Conspiracy theories abound. And words matter more than ever, as President Biden and other Democratic leaders call for national unity, while also highlighting what many party members see as a threat to democracy posed by a second Trump term.聽
Why We Wrote This
Following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calls have risen for national unity and less incendiary political rhetoric. Yet a key to Democrats鈥� election strategy is still to point to former President Trump as a threat to democracy.
A day after the shooting at a Trump rally July 13 in Pennsylvania,聽Mr. Biden urged Americans聽from the Oval Office to 鈥渓ower the temperature in our politics.鈥� He has since said that his recent private comment to donors 鈥� made before the assassination attempt 鈥� about putting Mr. Trump 鈥渋n the bull鈥檚-eye鈥澛犅燘ut President Biden鈥檚 sharp rhetoric has hardly abated.聽
In speeches and interviews after the shooting, Mr. Biden still flags his rival鈥檚 rhetoric as highly problematic, including Mr. Trump鈥檚 2023 comment that he鈥檇聽鈥� on Day 1, his denial of the 2020 election result, and his refusal to聽say he鈥檒l聽鈥渁utomatically鈥� accept the outcome of the 2024 election.
The news late Wednesday that Mr. Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 only complicates his ability to communicate with the public. The president, on a trip in Las Vegas, will return to Delaware, 鈥渨here he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,鈥� according to the White House,聽which described the symptoms as 鈥渕ild.鈥�
Biden critics see the president trying to have it both ways 鈥� denouncing Mr. Trump for inflammatory rhetoric while engaging in it himself. But some experts in political discourse say the two messages aren鈥檛 necessarily contradictory.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to say that Trump all of a sudden is a perfect candidate, and doesn鈥檛 pose a potential threat to the electoral system, in saying he also shouldn鈥檛 be a victim of a crime,鈥� says Shana Kushner Gadarian, a political scientist at Syracuse University.聽
Professor Gadarian also notes that the motive of the deceased shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, remains unknown, and it鈥檚 premature to say that he was driven to act by today鈥檚 inflamed public discourse. Even ubiquitous social media isn鈥檛 necessarily to blame, in a nation steeped in political violence since its founding.聽聽
鈥淚nterpersonal conversation can both rile people up and also tamp things down,鈥� Ms. Gadarian says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the importance of political leadership on both sides saying, 鈥楾his is not how we do things.鈥欌��
Still, the stark reality is that Mr. Trump was almost assassinated. And with less than four months until Election Day, Mr. Biden and fellow Democrats face the challenge of not overinflaming public sentiment while also making clear that, in their view, the stakes in November could not be higher.聽
The octogenarian Mr. Biden, too, remains under a cloud of doubt about his ability to win the election, given persistent questions about his mental acuity. The Trump shooting briefly paused that discussion, but it has resumed. The list of congressional Democrats voicing concerns,聽, about the wisdom of nominating Mr. Biden has grown in recent days.聽
On Wednesday, California Rep. Adam Schiff 鈥� a prominent Democrat favored to win a Senate seat in November 鈥� put out a statement calling on Mr. Biden to 鈥減ass the torch鈥� and step aside from the race. And an Associated Press/NORC poll out Wednesday finds that聽聽say Mr. Biden should withdraw from the race.
Many prominent Democrats are playing down the internal debate about Mr. Biden in favor of focusing on the perceived stakes of another Trump term.聽
鈥淭rump is the one saying he wants to be a dictator on Day 1,鈥� says Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the one who called for the Constitution to be terminated.鈥�
Mr. Wikler, whose state is hosting this week鈥檚 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, is referring to聽聽that suggested the 2020 election results were 鈥渁 massive fraud鈥� that allowed for 鈥渢ermination鈥� of the U.S. Constitution.
The Wisconsin Democratic chair also warns of a concept called Godwin鈥檚 law 鈥� the idea that, as an聽online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Adolf Hitler nears certainty. Indeed, he says, comparisons of Mr. Trump to World War II dictators and atrocities are increasingly frequent 鈥� and unhelpful.
鈥淔or Democrats, avoiding a kind of online chat-room dynamic and focusing on what actually persuades your audience is the most effective strategy,鈥� says Mr. Wikler, whose state is one of the three most important election battlegrounds, along with Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Mr. Biden spent the opening days of the Republican National Convention in Las Vegas 鈥� in another battleground state, Nevada 鈥� doing outreach to Black and Latino voters and highlighting issues that matter to everyday Americans.聽In so doing, he has embraced left-leaning policies, including a proposal to cap annual rent increases to 5% and another to remove medical debt from credit reports.
One local Democratic official says that after the Trump assassination attempt, he thought, there鈥檚 鈥渘o way we鈥檒l recover.鈥澛�
鈥淗e鈥檒l get the sympathy vote,鈥� Tick Segerblom, a member of the Clark County Commission, says of Mr. Trump.聽
But after Mr. Trump picked Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate, it was clear the former president was聽going all in on 鈥淢ake America Great Again.鈥� Mr. Segerblom says he realized, 鈥淲e鈥檙e聽back 100% going for it.鈥澛�
鈥淚t will be like France,鈥� he says, 鈥渨hen the left realized [hard-right leader Marine] Le Pen was going to win, and said, 鈥榃e got to get going鈥欌�� 鈥� and ended up blocking a far-right election victory.
Allen Shelton, a Las Vegas resident and real estate agent, calls Mr. Biden鈥檚 push for toned-down political rhetoric a 鈥渃lassy鈥� move following the assassination attempt against Mr. Trump.聽
鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be so divisive to where it comes to blows,鈥� Mr. Shelton says at one of Mr. Biden鈥檚 campaign stops Tuesday in Las Vegas. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�