The morning after the attempted murder of donald trumplife, president of the Chamber Mike Johnson appeared on the “Today” show and echoed a familiar sentiment. Those who are in the political sphere, the Louisiana Republican saidneeds to “refuse the rhetoric”.
Some in his party heeded the call. Others don’t.
“Joe Biden sent the orders,” Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia wrote online. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida added, “They tried to impeach him. They are trying to arrest him. Now, they tried to assassinate him.”
Republican Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania – who attended the rally where the former president was shot – initially described the assassination attempt as an “attack from the left”, although he later deleted the message.
But it was one argument from a Republican vice-presidential candidate that stood out as especially notable. NBC News reported:
“Today is not just an isolated incident,” the senator wrote. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”
It is worth noting, for context, that the missive was published at 8:20 pm Eastern Time – less than two hours after the assassination attempt.
In other words, as much of the country was still learning about the heinous act, Vance’s instinct was to blame his domestic political enemies. Amid talk of “unity” and bipartisan condemnation of the shooting, the Republican senator wasted no time blaming Biden and his campaign.
Part of the problem with Vance’s assessment is that it is rooted in a claim that is patently false: At no point has the current Democratic president or anyone on his campaign team argued that Trump “must be stopped at all costs.”
The list of contemporary American politicians who have dipped their toes into the waters of political violence is painfully long, but Biden’s name is not on it.
But equally important was the fact that Vance, immediately after an assassination attempt, assumed the role of partisan attack dog. David Axelrod, a veteran of Barack Obama’s team, discussed online a day later, “If [Vance] is on the list for vice president, this Tweet, sent an hour after the assassination attempt on [Pennsylvania]should disqualify him in the eyes of the Trump campaign.”
Former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger was thinking along the same lines, writing that Vance’s rhetoric “should absolutely disqualify” him from vice presidential consideration.
The public won’t have to wait much longer to find out if the former president agrees: The Republican National Convention begins today in Milwaukee and Trump’s announcement of his new running mate is imminent. Watch this space.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
