Senior House Democrat suggests, ‘We’ve all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency’
Congressional Democrats’ all-consuming angst over President Biden’s candidacy has taken an abrupt backseat in lawmakers’ minds in the wake of an assassination attempt against former President Trump.
Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers say their immediate focus is on their personal security and that of their staffs, not on their party’s political woes, helping to allow a crucial cooldown period for the embattled president.
- “We’re all just focused on expressing condolences … and keeping our teams safe,” said one House Democrat who has been fiercely critical of Biden.
- A senior House Democrat suggested the post shooting atmosphere in the party is too “chaotic” for internal battles over leadership.
State of play: Biden was engaged in a high-stakes outreach campaign to Capitol Hill in the hours leading up to the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left a bystander and the shooter dead.
- As part of an effort to stop the flow of statements urging him to end his reelection bid, Biden met Saturday afternoon with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the center-left New Democrat Coalition.
- The latter call was described by lawmakers present as “tense” and a “disaster” for the president, who, they said, was combative in the face of questions about how he plans to turn around his flagging campaign.