Biden campaign faces delicate moment after shocking attack on Trump
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For President Biden, it was an easy decision to reach out to former President Trump, pull down his political ads and return to the White House.
Why it matters: How he restarts his campaign is a much harder call.
- Advisers say that Biden's response to the shocking assassination attempt gives him an opportunity to appear presidential and try to lower the overall temperature in the country.
- It could reinvigorate his presidency, and quell criticism from elected Democrats that he isn't up to the job.
Prior to the shooting, Biden advisers were unanimous that he needs to take his fight directly to Trump.
- That's a difficult case to make against a man who came within several millimeters of losing his life.
- There's now a broad recognition that Biden is facing a delicate balancing act in the coming weeks: He must continue to warn that Trump is a threat to democracy, while acknowledging the recent threat to Trump's life.
Driving the news: Biden eventually connected with Trump last night and returned to the White House past midnight. His campaign hasn't said if he still plans to campaign in Austin and Las Vegas later this week.
- Biden's first inclination, advisers said, was to gather more information before addressing the nation.
- When he did, he made a point of trying to reach out to his rival, calling him "Donald."
"There's no place in America for this kind of violence," Biden said in remarks from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
- "It's sick," he said twice.
- "It's one of the reasons we have to unite this country," Biden said.
Zoom out: Biden has made combating political extremism the central plank of his campaign, repeatedly telling supporters that Trump's response to far-right extremism in Charlottesville, Virginia, compelled him to run.
- His essential argument against Trump is personal: The former president isn't morally fit to hold the highest office in the land, Biden says. He frequently calls him a "convicted felon."
- That's a harder case to make in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Trump.
The bottom line: Saturday's shooting has changed the 2024 campaign in ways that Biden advisers haven't fully processed.
- Republicans, by and large, were confident that the shooting – and Trump's defiant raised fist – would redound to Trump's benefit.
- Democrats adopted a wait-and-see approach and cautioned that it was too early to draw easy conclusions about the political implications.
