On the one hand, Biden probably didn't condemn the attempt quite forcibly enough in his initial statement. The phrase "we cannot condone violence" rings in my ear. That was a little bit soft. He did a lot better in his six-minute address to the nation last night. He hit the right notes. Yes there were a couple of boo boos ("battle box" vs. "ballot box"), but it was cogent, coherent and from the heart.
On the other, it must be owned that it was Trump who at once lowered the tone and raised the temperature* of American politics and created the combustible atmosphere that led to this. Yes Democrats have fallen into the trap here and there. The shooting up of the Congressional baseball game where Steve Scalise was badly injured and the physical attacks on neo-Nazi Richard Spencer the weekend of the 2016 Trump inauguration stand out as particularly low moments. But honestly more than anyone it is Trump who has created the conditions that came back and nipped him in the ear.
I'm glad he wasn't killed because Biden is right, that's not who we are. But I would not be sad if he were to die of natural causes. But it is too late for the death of Trump to mean that much. He has created the template for nationalist populism in America. If he dies JD Vance** or the like steps in and fills his shoes. Whether anyone else will ever have license to mouth as much virulent nonsense at that level as Trump has remains to be seen.
*I had written that phrase before I heard Biden use it in his address, btw.
** BTW let the record clearly reflect that I wrote this before the nod to Vance as VP candidate was made. Some days I have the hot hand.
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