Both sides skeptical that calls for unity will stick

Both Republicans and Democrats have made calls to lower the political temperature and unite the country on the heels of the attempted assassination of former President Trump. 

But lawmakers and operatives in both parties remain skeptical in what has become a highly polarized country and a hotly contested presidential race. 

Democrats have long sounded the alarm about Trump’s threat to democracy, a central pillar of President Biden’s campaign. Even on Friday — a day before the attempted assassination — Biden called Trump a “business fraud” who was facing charges in multiple criminal cases, including election interference. “Most importantly, Trump is a threat to this nation,” Biden said.

And on the Republican side, Trump himself has been a driver of political polarization, reshaping the Republican Party to embrace name-calling and aggressive stances, as well as personally entertaining conspiracy theories. 

Over the weekend, Trump emphasized unity in interviews and social media posts. 

But on Monday, as the Republican National Convention prepared to open, the former president took to Truth Social to comment on the dismissal of the classified documents case against him but quickly injected politics into a post:  

“As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts - The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met…and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges,” Trump wrote. “The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of the Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. 

“Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump added. 

The post signaled to some Democrats that the calls for unity would quickly pass and the race would return to the slugfest it was before the assassination attempt.  

“Well unity lasted a day,” one Democratic strategist said in response to Trump’s post. 

Former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) said it is incumbent on Trump and Republicans to also tamp down the rhetoric, pointing to Trump’s response to the dismissal of the documents case. “There’s gotta be a realization on all sides here that truth matters.”

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the instinct for the Republican Party’s firebrands was to blame Democrats for the attack. 

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) — who was a top contender to be Trump’s vice presidential pick — blamed Biden’s campaign, posting on X that the rhetoric warning about Trump being “an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs” had “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted that “Democrats wanted this to happen,” pointing to a Democratic bill that would have stripped Trump’s Secret Service protection detail upon sentencing for a felony conviction.

Though Republicans are criticizing Biden’s focus on threats to democracy, Trump himself has also argued that Biden is a threat to democracy.

“Listen, everybody is prone to overstatement,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on CNN on Sunday when asked about Trump’s democracy rhetoric, adding: “The point is, the rhetoric has consequences when you have a heated environment and you have political division in this country like we have.”

In a call with House Republicans on Sunday, Johnson had encouraged them to lower the political temperature — but did not offer specifics, according to two lawmakers on the call.

Democratic strategist Eddie Vale pointed to Republican reaction to the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and the attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, as proof that Republicans are incapable of civility. 

“We will hold it, I think, as long as Trump does,” Vale said. “Could he really mean it this time that he’s changing his tone? I remain skeptical.”

Crowley, like other Democrats, was skeptical that the tone would last long. 

“I think if everyone can dial down a bit in terms of the personal rhetoric and the language that’s used, that’s good for the country overall,” Crowley said. “Am I hopeful that will end up? Maybe for the first couple of weeks, but I’m not so sure after that.” 

Alex Gangitano contributed