After Saturday’s attack on former President Donald Trump, both Republicans and Democrats are urging Americans to tone down political discourse.
In an Oval Office address Sunday night, President Biden urged Americans to take a step back and reject violence saying that politics should never be a killing field.
“We stand for an America not of extremism and fury, but of decency and grace,” President Biden said. “All of us now face a time of testing as the election approaches. And the higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become. This places an added burden on each of us to ensure that no matter how strong our convictions, we must never descend into violence.”
Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who is part of a prayer group that regularly meets on Capitol Hill, believes we simply cannot see each other as enemies, irrespective of our differing political views.
PHOTO: Activists pray for the safety of Biden and Trump at Lafayette Square near the White House, July 14, 2024, one day after an assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in PA. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“All of us are reaching out to each other in Congress. As you know, I’m an active member of our Senatorial prayer group that tries to not just lower the temperature, but to be role models to each other of how to respect each other as people,” Sen. Coons told NBC’s Meet the Press.
A similar sentiment echoed by South Carolina’s Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who is thankful knowing just how close the former president came to possibly losing his life.
On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
MORE ‘It Was God Alone’: Trump Gives Thanks to God for Protecting His Life from Assassin’s Bullets
“I was just grateful that he made it. I mean, fate stepped in, the hand of God, call if whatever you like,” said Sen. Graham. “For the country, we probably need to do some soul-searching as a nation.”
In a statement, former First Lady Melania Trump expressed thanks for those “who have reached out beyond the political divide” to send their support.
Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders called political violence “un-American” urged citizens to perhaps take a different view of the process.
“The bottom line is what we need as a nation, what a democracy is about is not radical rhetoric,” said Sen. Sanders. “What it is about is a serious discussion of where we are as a nation and how we go forward, forward. You know, and in a certain way…politics should be kind of boring.”
Meanwhile, security experts continue to sound the alarm about growing political violence in our culture, warning that threats against local and state officeholders have jumped sharply in recent years.
“This is the most complex, dynamic and dangerous threat environment that I have experienced in the 40 years that I’ve been working in law enforcement and homeland security,” said John Cohen, a former counterterrorism official. “We are an angry and divided nation and that anger and division has become intertwined in our political discourse. There are a growing number of people in this country who believe that violence is an appropriate way to express their ideological or political views.”
Trump is now in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. He told the New York Post, “I want to try to unite our country, but I don’t know if that’s possible. People are very divided.”
Evangelist Greg Laurie urged people to pray for our nation and its leaders, writing on X, “America stands at a pivotal crossroads, and now more than ever, we need God, we need the Bible, and we need the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.”
Yesterday, the unthinkable occurred. An assassination attempt was made on the 45th President of the United States as he spoke at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Thankfully, the assailant was stopped, but not before he had discharged several rounds from his vantage point on a nearby… pic.twitter.com/0ub3cWBbgT
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) July 14, 2024
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