After Trump shooting, the presidential race will change dramatically. And possibly violently
Donald Trump has enraged his supporters, paused the Democratic campaign and raised fears of further political violence in the run-up to November's election.
Trump's Republican allies painted him as a hero on Saturday, seizing on the image of him with his ear bloodied and fist raised, appearing to mouth the words «Fight! Fight! Fight!»
Whereas Trump has regularly used violent language with his followers, advisers and allies of the former president flipped the script on his Democratic opponent President Joe Biden, saying it was the demonization of the Republican presidential candidate that led to the assassination attempt.
«Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination,» U.S. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, a top candidate to be Trump's running mate, said on X.
Biden moved quickly to try to defuse the situation, denouncing the attack as unacceptable political violence and pulling election ads attacking Trump.
«There's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick,» Biden told reporters.
The motivation of the shooter is not yet known. The suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was a registered Republican, according to state voter records. He previously made a $15 donation to a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians.
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