Some call for unity, political civility after Trump assassination attempt. Can it hold?

It takes a hot stove time to cool.

Since Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler County, some have called on politicians to tone their rhetoric to prevent further violence. But others fear that American politics have become so overheated that it will take time to deescalate the situation — if it ever cools down at all.

“Because of polarization, both sides think the other sides are threats to them,” said Duquesne University law professor Gene Mazo.

Leaders on both sides of the political aisle have called for unity and a toning down of political attacks since Saturday’s shooting, but that hasn’t been universally embraced or put into practice.

Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, formally announced Monday as Trump’s vice presidential choice, posted Saturday night on the social media site X that President Joe Biden’s rhetoric calling Trump a threat to democracy encouraged the assassination attempt.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican from Butler who spoke at Saturday’s rally before Trump, called the shooting “an attack from the left,” before later editing that claim out of a social media post. The suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, was a registered Republican.

When reached Monday, Kelly didn’t address direct questions about his post, but said he wants to cool things down moving forward. He also criticized the personal attacks against Trump, and said Democrats should not make things personal and keep criticisms to policy.

“I agree we have to tamp things down,” Kelly said.

Some Democrats also have kept the political pot boiling.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, a staff member for Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi posted “don’t miss next time” on social media. The staffer was fired after deleting the post.

Locally, Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, D-Brighton Heights, immediately responded to the assassination attempt by posting, “Wow, the crime is out of control in Butler.” She quickly deleted the post and later replied that she shouldn’t have posted anything.

Hallam did not reply to requests for comment.

And less than three hours after the shooting, a digital billboard displayed on the side of a truck just outside the Butler Farm Show grounds claimed Democrats attempted the assassination on Trump. It’s unclear who the billboard belonged to.

Biden tried to cool things down Sunday night in a live address from the Oval Office.

“Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than that right now,” the president said.

Biden’s call has been echoed by leaders on both sides, from Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. Some Democrats and Republicans said they have taken political ads off the air.

“It feels overwhelming because the rhetoric is too high,” said Shippensburg University political science professor Alison Dagnes. “It has been escalating and escalating for too long and reached a fever pitch where violence felt inevitable.”

While Dagnes praised some of the leaders’ calls for calm, she isn’t confident it will be maintained.

Reports from Sunday hinted that Trump was ready to seek unity following the shooting, even if by Monday the former president resumed calling the criminal cases against him “witch hunts” and a conspiracy against him perpetuated by Democrats.

“I am glad Trump is OK and I hope the shooting encourages a deescalation of rhetoric,” Dagnes said. “But there is just no indication that it will. His instinct is to fight back.”

At a news conference Sunday afternoon in Butler Township, Shapiro emphasized the importance of peaceful political engagement.

“Political disagreements can never, ever be addressed through violence. Disagreements are OK, but we need to use a peaceful political process to settle those differences,” the governor said.

Shapiro called on every American to “rise above the hateful rhetoric.”

The Biden campaign said Sunday it was pausing all of its political ads in the wake of the shooting.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, who spoke at the Butler rally before Trump arrived, said his campaign would follow suit.

“This is a time to come together as Americans to recognize that what makes our country and its people exceptional transcends party,” McCormick posted Monday on X.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, who often criticizes Trump openly and forcefully, also called for unity following the shooting.

“Political violence only leads to more violence — and we all must come together to condemn it.,” she said Saturday.

Johnson, the Republican House Speaker from Louisiana, told reporters Sunday it was time to “turn the rhetoric down.”

“We’re all Americans, and we have to treat one another with dignity and respect,” he said.

Dagnes said Trump has the biggest opportunity to calm the tensions.

As the Republican presidential nominee, his words would carry more weight than anyone in the GOP as the party holds its national convention this week, according to Dagnes.

“The tone that Trump takes will decide how this goes,” she said.

Throughout his political career, Trump has used extreme rhetoric to attack his adversaries, rile up his base and attempt to silence his critics.

In a Sunday interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said he is rewriting his Republican National Convention speech to remove criticisms of Biden, and he vowed to focus on bringing the country together.

Mazo, the Duquesne University law professor, said solving polarization is the “million-dollar question” of today’s political environment. Until that changes, events such as the assassination attempt will likely only increase polarization.

Plum Councilman Steve Schlauch, who is attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, said the assassination attempt strengthened his support for the former president.

“Everybody has a similar emotional feeling,” Schlauch said. “After what happened to President Trump on Saturday at the Butler rally, everybody wants to get involved and get behind him and help him win. If anything, it unified the (Republican) party.”