Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling for the temperature to be turned down regarding political rhetoric in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
As Washington’s leaders made the rounds on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning, a common theme weaved throughout their statements — horror over the harsh rhetoric that they credit for the violence that broke out against Trump.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told NBC’s Kristen Welker that the attempt on the former president’s life didn’t shock him because of the rhetoric that critics of the former president have used against him.
“I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’ve been worried about this for a very, very long time,” Graham said. “The rhetoric is way too hot, but I was just grateful that he made it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson called the attempted assassination “a horrific act of political violence that ought to be roundly condemned.” Johnson expressed concern over the massive security breach that occurred during Trump’s Pennsylvania rally while warning, “We cannot go on like this as a society.”
Democrats chimed in during their Sunday morning media rounds. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) worried that the political temperature mirrored political violence in the late 1960s.
“I was a high-school senior when there was an assassination attempt at President Reagan’s life,” Coons remembered.
Ahead of the Republican Convention, which begins on Monday, Coons argued for tighter security, saying, “We need to be more concerned and more diligent than ever in ensuring that our two conventions and the rest of this presidential campaign come off safely and securely.”
Trump will attend the convention as planned this week. In a statement released Sunday morning, the former president urged the country to “stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sounded a similar note as he called for the country to gather together in unified condemnation of violence.
“We’re all Americans,” the independent presidential candidate told Newsnation Saturday evening. “We need to stop hating each other.”
Meanwhile, Coons appeared to mount a thinly veiled attack on Trump during his remarks to NBC. The Democratic senator noted that he was proud to support President Joe Biden because “his tone and leadership as President has been geared toward trying to get us together.”
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Meanwhile, the Independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, added his voice to the mix.
“What a democracy is about is not radical rhetoric,” Sanders warned. The senator told NBC that “politics should kind of boring,” calling for an end to the “harsh rhetoric that we have heard for the last number of years.” Sanders alleged he was familiar with political violence, recounting the fire that was started at his Burlington, Vermont, office a few months ago. Shant Michael Soghomonian’s motive for starting the fire remains unknown.