President Joe Biden's re-election campaign is looking to adopt a new strategy following the assassination attempt on his Republican rival Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, which includes a decision not to attack the former president for the time being.
Within hours of the shooting at Trump yesterday, Biden's campaign halted television advertisements and suspended other political communications that highlighted Trump’s indictment in May on criminal charges related to payments made to a porn star to cover up a sexual scandal before the 2016 U.S. election.
Officials in Biden's campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that the White House and the campaign will not target Trump in the coming days and will instead focus on the president's previous stances condemning all forms of political violence, including his strong criticisms of the "chaos" created by university protests amid the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Biden's advisors had hoped that calls from some Democrats and others urging Biden to step aside and allow another candidate to represent the Democratic Party in the November 5 elections would cease.
One campaign official commented on the assassination attempt: "This changes everything... We are still assessing the situation. Making arguments against Trump… will be more difficult." The official added: "The president is trying to calm the situation."
Biden's campaign officials expect that the assassination attempt will ease the pressure from congressional Democrats on Biden (81 years old) to step down from the presidential race amid concerns about his capability to hold the position. Some Democrats in both the House and Senate have publicly called for Biden’s withdrawal following his shaky performance in the debate with Trump in June.
The officials confirmed that Biden's scheduled trip tomorrow (Monday) to the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, is still under consideration and may be canceled.
Some political experts suggest that this incident may increase Republican voter turnout and support for Trump, especially since it occurred in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that Biden narrowly won over Trump in the 2020 election. Trump (78 years old) is set to be officially announced as the Republican candidate for the presidential race during the party's national convention, which starts tomorrow and will last for four days in Milwaukee.
