President Joe Biden made the right decision to speak from the Oval Office on Sunday night, calling for much-needed unity in the country after the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. But like the shooter, he completely missed the point.
“My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about the need to ease political tensions, and to remember that while we may differ, we are not enemies; we are fellow Americans,” Biden began.
“Yesterday's shooting at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania calls for all of us to take a step back to reflect on where we are and how we go forward,” the president continued.
So far so good, but it turns out the president has a predictably narrow view of who “all of us” actually means.
He speaks of a frightening path that we as Americans “must never travel” — a path that led to “the January 6th mob storming the Capitol” and “the brutal attack on the home of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” and that encouraged “threats to election officials” and “a kidnapping plot against a sitting governor.” Oh, and lest we forget, it's also the path that led to “the attempted assassination of Donald Trump,” Biden concludes.
Audience members hold signs urging them to “pass the baton” to President Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 5, 2024. Biden has faced criticism for being too old and in poor health to serve another term as president. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
This one-sided expression of concern makes Biden's new push for unity seem much the same as the old one: a cynical political ploy. Biden shamelessly cited the plot against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, riddled with FBI interference and in which courts acquitted many of the conspirators. With the curious exception of Saturday's assassination attempt, it seems that only the right wing is responsible for political violence in America — at least in Biden's reckoning.
This is the picture Democrats have long tried to paint, conveniently forgetting how it led to the shooting of a Republican politician at a baseball game, months of rioting and looting, and the intimidation of Jewish Americans across the country, all of which are the clear result of the Democrats' own ideology and allies.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 27: People watch the CNN presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, during a debate viewing party at The Continental Club on June 27, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Biden and Trump will face off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
If it wasn't already clear, it should be clear now: Democrats will never condemn political violence on their own behalf. Really. They say the right things to gain the moral high ground, but they also do so to betray you. Only total defeat can make them see the light. Only from a position of total powerlessness can they finally understand the value of standing together with their “fellow Americans.”
