In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Florida lawmakers are urging for more civility in the political landscape. The incident has stirred significant concern among attendees at the Republican National Convention, with many attributing the event to the heated rhetoric of politicians and the media.
Michael Thompson, a Florida delegate, emphasized the need for toned-down discourse to prevent further violent actions.
“The whole rhetoric just has to calm down because it’s only going to trigger more and more people who are mentally, you know, challenged to begin with to do something really stupid,” said Thompson.
U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, placed blame on President Joe Biden for what she called his inflammatory language toward Trump.
“When President Biden says he is putting a bullseye on President Trump and compares him to Hitler, that is incendiary rhetoric, and it is dangerous. He needs to take full account for that,” she said.
She also cited the media response in the aftermath of the incident in Butler, Pa., as a continuation of this discourse.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen members of the liberal media and members on the other side say that he fell or that there were loud noises. Anything less than calling this what it is — an assassination attempt — is unacceptable,” said Cammack.
However, Cammack acknowledged that both Republicans and Democrats have played a role in escalating political tensions.
“The temperature absolutely needs to come down. I think that has become the new norm in politics and it’s dangerous when you have each side continuing to up the rhetoric and the ante. It can only end in one place, and it’s not great for anyone,” she said.
Florida State Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, expressed hope that this incident might lead to more civil discourse between political factions.
“You constantly hear the rhetoric about democracy and don’t see it in action. We hear it in play and words and propaganda, but definitely an unfortunate situation, hopefully, we’ll remediate and help us become civil Americans once again,” Garcia said.