Edit: A link to a statement from the White House has been added to the bottom of this diary.
"You couldn't have aimed maybe two inches more to the side? That would have solved a lot of problems."
Yes. The thought crossed my mind. And it is the thought of a coward.
Sure, if Trump were to keel over dead tomorrow due to a massive coronary event, it would solve a whole lot of problems not just for our country, but for the entire world. I would shed precisely zero tears were that to happen.
But to try and assassinate your political opponents is cowardly because it implies that you no longer believe that you can win by any other, more legitimate means. It has been a gloomy period since the debate and, frankly, this has been an unpleasant place for those, like me, who feel Biden should step aside because he has so damaged his ability to win.
But, and this is crucial. I retain my sense of hope.
You don’t slay bad thinking with a bullet. You slay it via persuasion. You beat it back with better ideas. You win in the long run by proving the shallow, empty nature of the arguments that you are facing. If whomever shot at Donald Trump was a liberal, then I denounce them. I disavow them. I also condemn my own cowardly thought that I had.
The person who shot that bullet doesn’t represent me despite their good intentions because they are getting in the way of a much more complete victory.
That complete victory comes from crushing the ideas that the man supports, not murdering the man in question.
To try and assassinate Donald Trump is a surrender to hopelessness and despair. It is waving the white flag and giving up.
We have not lost yet. Let us not act like we have.
White House Statement