In the hours following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the U.S. political class, "on both sides of the aisle," as they say here for the entire spectrum of bipartisanship, rushed to condemn the attack and send a message of support to the former president. All the top conservative figures. And also, quickly, Joe Biden, who interrupted his campaign events and ordered the TV ads that were supposed to air these days against his Republican rival to be stopped. The vice president, Kamala Harris, her predecessor, Barack Obama, the minority leader in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries, or the former speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was brutally attacked at their home a few years ago by a disturbed individual looking for her, quickly expressed solidarity. But the harmony was short-lived. In a matter of hours, the attack has divided the country, multiplied speculations and rumors about security failures, and led to a coordinated reproach with a strong and serious message: the blame lies with Joe Biden, the Democrats, and the media.
Just minutes after the attack, the most hardcore sector of the Republican Party and the MAGA movement, Make America Great Again, led by Trump, and members of his own family, blamed the "radical left" and President Biden himself for being responsible for and instigating the attack. It started at the rally itself in a small town in Pennsylvania, with attendees cornering, insulting, and reproaching the media present for their responsibility. And it continued on television and social media.
"I just spoke with my father on the phone and he is in very good spirits. He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him," noted Don Jr., one of the billionaire's sons, the same one who mocked Pelosi and her husband on Halloween, with an image ridiculing the video that was released of the attack at their residence in California.
"Today's events are not just an isolated incident. The central premise of Biden's campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric directly led to the assassination attempt on President Trump," linked J.D. Vance, Republican senator from Ohio and one of the top favorites to be Trump's vice president. His appointment is expected this week, perhaps on Monday itself, at the start of the Republican National Convention, to be held in Milwaukee (Wisconsin). Trump's team has stated that the event will go on, despite the attack.
Some heavyweights in the movement in Congress and the Senate picked up the baton. "Someone just tried to ASSASSINATE President Trump. Democrats and the media are to blame for every drop of blood shed today. For years, they have demonized him and his supporters. Today, someone finally tried to eliminate the leader of our America First and the greatest president of all time. Watch the video, President Trump said 'FIGHT', WE WILL!!", wrote on X Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican congresswoman from Georgia and one of the most well-known faces of extremism. Addicted to all conspiracies, convinced that the 2020 elections were stolen from Trump, and critical of aid to Ukraine or vaccines, the congresswoman later added that "Democrats wanted this to happen. They have wanted Trump gone for years and are willing to do anything to make that happen," and named some of her colleagues, holding them responsible for attempting to remove Trump's security detail in the past. The same person who appears in her campaign ads shooting automatic weapons or blowing things up with the "socialism" sign.
"The Republican district attorney of Butler County, Pennsylvania, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting murder," went a step further Mike Collins, also a congressman from Georgia and a loyal follower of Trump. "Joe Biden gave the order," he went on to write, directly blaming Biden. "Joe Biden is responsible for the shooting," echoed Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert. "Just a few days ago, Biden said, 'It's time to put Trump in the crosshairs.' Today there was an assassination attempt against President Trump," added Marsha Blackburn, senator from Tennessee. Interestingly, one of the few Democrats to use those same arguments, but in reverse, was also the senator from that southern state, London Lamar, who wrote "The extremism of the MAGA regime has brought us to this moment," before regretting and deleting the public message.
The reason behind this is some words from the president at a private event with donors less than a week ago, when he said, according to a recording obtained and published then by Politico, the following: "I have only one job, and that is to defeat Donald Trump. I am absolutely sure that I am the best person to do that. It's time to stop talking about the debate, it's time to put Trump in the crosshairs," said Biden. That expression, "in a bullseye" in the original, is what critics use to blame the president, who in the context of his speech was talking about changing the media narrative, focused on his poor performance in the debate, to focus it on his rival.
"The deranged left-wing lunatics parading on MSNBC and other 'media' demonizing Trump and calling him Hitler are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for this violent attack on President Trump!! They have BLOOD on their hands. ENOUGH of VIOLENT RHETORIC! AMERICA IS ANGRY!!!!", tweeted Texas congressman Ronny Jackson Jr, stating that one of his nephews was at Trump's rally and was slightly injured.
"Congressman Scalise, Judge Kavanaugh, and now President Trump. For years, Democrats and their allies in the media have recklessly stoked fears, labeling President Trump and other conservatives as threats to democracy. Their inflammatory rhetoric puts lives at risk," said a somewhat more relaxed Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
One of his colleagues in the Senate, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, in a joint statement with former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, took the opportunity to call for the attack to be used to end the cases that the former president has open in the courts. "Biden must immediately order all federal criminal charges against President Trump to be dropped and request that the governors of New York and Georgia drop all federal criminal charges against President Trump." York and Georgia do the same," which, they claimed, "would help heal wounds and allow all Americans to breathe deeply and reflect on how we got here."