Letters

In the aftermath of the Donald Trump assassination attempt, many elected officials echoed President Joe Biden’s call for unity and for lowering the temperature with respect to political rhetoric.

However, there have been some notable exceptions. Most glaring is Trump’s vice president nominee, J.D. Vance. On Saturday, shortly after the shooting incident, Vance said: “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Well, the shooter was a 20-year-old registered Republican. His motive for shooting at Trump is still a mystery. He was not very active on social media. The investigation is ongoing.

Some pundits opined that Vance’s quick, “shoot-from-the-hip” comments would be disqualifying — yet Trump apparently liked Vance’s comments, as he picked him as his running mate two days later.

On Saturday, July 13, at 7:29 p.m. (the day of the shooting), U.S. Representative Nick LaLota posted on Facebook: “Five days before today’s shooting, President Biden told supporters it was time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye … the leftist mainstream media didn’t cover it and they surely didn’t condemn it. America should hope the shame brought upon them changes their ways.”

Subsequently, Biden regretted his choice of words. It should be noted that these comments were made to a private group of donors. These comments were not widely reported. I am a voracious reader of political news; I did not see them. It is doubtful that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, saw this private comment from President Biden. Regardless, the rationale and motives for the shooter remain elusive.

The motives and circumstances surrounding past presidential assassination attempts still remain elusive and controversial after many, many years.

While 81-year-old President Biden’s communication skills are clearly diminished, his character and his class in calling former President Trump right after the shooting and his quick directive to pull down all ads following the shooting is a testament to the gentleman and statesman that President Biden is.

Two days after the shooting, the Trump campaign was fundraising with merchandise featuring Trump’s bloody face and clenched fist. At the RNC, some of the speakers strayed afar from the themes of unity and restraint. Finally, Trump’s history of violent political rhetoric is well-known: Hang Mike Pence (he said he deserves it); a protester at a Trump event in 2015-16 (“I’d like to punch him in the face”). It’s a very long list that we can write about in future letters.

Clearly, violence with AR-15 assault rifles is a plague in our country. Will anything, ever, result in a return to common sense gun safety in our beleaguered country?

Dick Sheehan

Manorville