...
By Flynn Nicholls
US News Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Joe Biden has had to backpedal on his campaign strategy targeting Donald Trump as a criminal and a threat to democracy; with MAGA figures criticizing the president's recent rhetoric as contributing to the Saturday night attempt on Trump's life.
Biden strongly condemned the shooting on Saturday night, saying political violence was "sick" and had "no place in America." Reuters reported that a Biden campaign official said the team was "working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible," due to the seriousness of the situation.
Suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire during a Saturday night campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing Trump's ear, killing a man, and critically wounding two others.
Read More on News
Crooks, who was shot and killed by Secret Service snipers, was reportedly a registered Republican voter, although media reports indicate he donated $15 to left-leaning campaign group in early 2021.
The report that Biden's campaign is pulling advertisements comes after the president has in recent weeks ramped up attacks on Trump.
...
In June, he launched a $50-million nationwide ad blitz focusing on Trump's criminal conviction in New York. Earlier on Saturday Biden posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying "Americans want a president, not a dictator," and on Friday he posted a link to a Democrat campaign donation page called "Save Democracy. Stop Trump."
Last Monday, Politico reported Biden telling donors that beating Trump in November's election was his "one job," and that he wanted to put him "in a bull's-eye."
"I'm absolutely certain I'm the best person to be able to do that," he said "So, we're done talking about the debate, it's time to put Trump in a bull's-eye."
Newsweek has contacted Biden and Trump for comment by email outside business hours.
Trump allies and the Russian government have blamed Democratic rhetoric for inciting the assassination attempt.
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X that the assassination attempt was because of Democrats and the media "demonizing" Trump and his supporters."
"The Democrats and the media are to blame for every drop of blood spilled today," she wrote.
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, who is front-runner to be Trump's running mate, also held Biden responsible.
"The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs," he wrote. "That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert told Denver's 9News that "Joe Biden is responsible for the shooting."
"Everyone who has called him a fascist, everyone who called him a threat to Democracy, who said that he should be put in a bull's-eye, as Joe Biden said, they need to have some very deep reflection tonight before another tragedy like this takes place," she said.
While Biden has characterized Trump as a criminal and a threat to democracy, Trump has used violent, fiery, and accusatory campaign rhetoric about Biden, including in April reposting a video featuring a decal depicting Biden tied up and gagged in the bed of a pickup truck.
In May, he baselessly said that Biden had authorized the FBI to assassinate him when agents raided his Mar-a-Lago home, and in June, he said it is "very possible" he would imprison his political opponents if reelected.
He has also accused Biden of being a threat to democracy.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines