'A commander in chief moment': Inside Biden’s response to the Trump rally shooting
WASHINGTON — Within an hour after the first shots were fired in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden had been briefed on what had unfolded, he was preparing a written statement condemning it and planning an address the nation, and he had tried to call his rival in the election.
WASHINGTON — Within an hour after the first shots were fired in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden had been briefed on what had unfolded, he was preparing a written statement condemning it and planning an address the nation, and he had tried to call his rival in the election.
Biden’s swift response Saturday to fast-moving developments is uncharacteristic for a White House that tends to react more slowly to crises than even some of its allies would like. The pace was designed to leave no question about how seriously Biden was taking the attempt to assassinate his political opponent and to set the tone for how he wants to be seen by the country as he navigates one of the most horrific moments in American history.
“This is a commander in chief moment,” a Biden aide said. “He wants to reduce the temperature.”
Biden’s quick response also left little time for an outside narrative about his handling of it to fill a void. He has staked out a position as a leader calling for unity amid a crisis — a familiar goal that has eluded him since he took office but was a central theme of his 2020 candidacy and inaugural address. He’s effectively leaving the question of whether the political temperature gets dialed up or down with Trump and his allies as they gather in Milwaukee this week for the Republican National Convention.
The Biden campaign still plans to resume criticizing Trump this week after a brief pause in political barbs following the shooting Saturday, which killed one attendee and injured two others in addition to Trump. The campaign and the Democratic National Committee will be focusing on contrasting Biden’s policies and vision for a second term with what a campaign official described as “Trump and Republicans’ backwards-looking agenda”
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