The assassination attempt on Donald Trump has forced Joe Biden’s campaign to tone down its attacks for the time being, with the US president admitting he was wrong to say his rival should be “targeted”.
But Biden has broadly defended his rhetoric, calling his Republican predecessor a threat to democracy, and has indicated he will not hold back much longer from criticizing the man he defeated in 2020.
When Biden urged Americans to “turn the temperature down” in a rare Oval Office speech on Sunday after Trump’s firing, it seemed like it might strip him of his main invasion policy.
Only last week, the 81-year-old attempted to refocus his campaign against his Republican rival, following weeks of turmoil in the Democratic Party over his age and health after his poor performance in a debate.
In the wake of Trump’s attack, Biden told broadcaster NBC on Monday that it had been a “mistake” to say in a call with donors a week ago that “it’s time to take on Trump.”
Democrats said he meant the party should “focus on what he’s doing” instead of calling on him to step down after the debate.
Republicans have particularly pointed to the bullseye comment as they accuse Biden himself of creating the political circumstances that led to a shooter trying to kill Trump — ignoring their own candidate’s history of encouraging violence.
But while Biden’s campaign has softened its language in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Biden himself has signaled he won’t back down.
“How can you talk about a threat to democracy when the president says things that are real,” he told NBC. “Do you not say anything just because it might provoke someone?”
“I have not made such statements. Now my opponent has made such statements, he is saying that when he loses there will be bloodshed.”
He also criticized Trump for pledging to pardon those involved in the attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and for joking about former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband being attacked with a hammer.
‘The calculation changes’
Facing repeated questions about Biden’s remarks at a White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that “it’s fine to speak to someone’s record, to speak to someone’s character.”
Despite canceling a trip to Texas on Monday, Biden has continued with his planned trip to battleground Nevada, and has set up a separate screen for Trump to attend the convention.
In an article published in The Washington Post, political columnist Karen Tumulty wrote that “there could hardly be a worse moment for Biden than when he is forced to reassess his strategy against Trump.”
However, the firing incident on Trump could help Biden as he fights for his political survival.
“Clearly this changes the calculus for those who are calling for Biden to step down,” George Washington University political scientist Peter Loge told AFP.
“That would buy Biden some time.”
The uproar in the Democratic Party over Biden’s age lingered for weeks after the debate, but the rebellion over his candidacy suddenly died down with the sound of gunfire on Saturday.
Biden has also sought to strike a presidential tone about the shootings, responding immediately on Saturday and addressing the nation on Sunday in his third Oval Office speech of his presidency.
But if the shooting could unite Democrats, it could also devastate Biden’s re-election campaign, as the president is already trailing in most polls.
Iconic images of a bloodied Trump waving his fist after the shooting are already bolstering Republicans’ hopes that voters will unite behind him for a landslide victory in November.
However, Loge said it would have little effect, because “many voters see Trump as too crazy and Biden as too old, and an assassination attempt won’t change that.”
He said focusing on the shooting’s immediate impact on the campaign was the “wrong question” and ignored the broader need to tackle the threats and violence that continue to pervade American politics.
“If we make political violence part of a campaign strategy, we forget the issue of political violence, and we kind of normalize it,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)