Biden's conflicting goals: civility and beating Trump
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President Biden speaks from the Oval Office Sunday night. Photo: Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Biden used a short Oval Office address Sunday night to ask Americans to "cool it" on divisive political rhetoric, while insisting he would make the case for "our record" in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: This thread-the-needle goal reflects the huge challenge ahead for Biden's reelection campaign, which has been based partly on attacking Donald Trump as a threat to democracy.
- Biden will try to satisfy two audiences at once: To a nation shocked by the assassination attempt on Trump he'll cast himself as a calming force.
- But to satisfy a Democratic Party still reeling from his June 27 debate performance, he'll still try to show a feisty side, touting his record and casting Trump's policies as "backward."
- He'll try to do it all amid continuing skepticism in his own party, and signs that Trump — long known for attacking anyone in his path — is discussing a post-shooting strategy that emphasizes unity over conflict.
Zoom in: Behind the Resolute Desk, Biden spoke for more than six minutes in laying out his plans for political civility and Democratic victory.
- "I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate," he said.
- But there's no guarantee that those two objectives won't have a dramatic collision.
- And frustrated members of Biden's party are in no mood to take his word for it, demanding evidence — and action — showing he can defeat Trump in their rematch.
Between the lines: For all the obvious and intense personal animus between them, both Biden and Trump have struck similar notes during the past 36 hours, calling for national unity and solidarity.
- It's been an echo of their nearly identical responses to one of the campaign's other defining moments — Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts in May — when both candidates said the real verdict would be in the Nov. 5 election.
What we're hearing: The attempted assassination of Trump has paused Democrats' public debate about whether Biden is fit to lead the party.
- But privately, the conversations are raging. And Biden has more work to do to convince donors and elected officials that he should be the party's nominee.
- Donors remain frustrated. Lawmakers are skittish. Delegates are wondering when the party's mysterious virtual roll call of their votes will be held to certify the Democratic nominee.
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is open to swapping out Biden as the party's nominee, traveled to Delaware on Saturday — before the shooting in Pennsylvania — to have a private chat with Biden.
- Neither side gave much detail of their talk.
Zoom out: Democrats acknowledge that Trump showed plenty of fight Saturday evening, raising a fist with blood trickling from his wounded ear in an image that's sure to be a signature of the 2024 campaign.
- The ex-president now is indicating that he wants to refocus the Republican National Convention on unity — rather than on attacking Biden, as initially planned.
- "It is a chance to bring the country together," he told the Washington Examiner. "I was given that chance."
Most Democratic lawmakers who spoke to Axios said it's too early to say whether the cessation in tensions will last until the Democratic National Convention next month.
- But one senior House Democrat offered one reason why it might: "We've all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency."
Contributing: Andrew Solender
