San Francisco leaders call for unity after attempted assassination of former President Trump
SAN FRANCISCO — Both Republicans and Democrats in San Francisco agree it's time to bring the temperature down politically after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
But the question is how?
Two days after the terrifying images surfaced, leaders from both parties in San Francisco called for moderation and restraint.
"We would do well if we knock off the inflammatory rhetoric and just work together to solve these issues," John Dennis, Chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party said.
"We have to ask for each other to hold some accountability to a lot of these discussions because what you're starting to see is a fervor that builds from openly calling for violence," Michael Rouppet, Co-President of the SF Latinx Democratic Club, added.
Although the call for unity resonates across party lines, there is still considerable disagreement over how things broke down in the first place.
"We need President Biden to tone it down. To knock it off, stop calling him Hitler. Listen, criticizing your political opponent on the things that he said and done that's fair game but saying that he's going to be a dictator instigates the worst elements in our country," said Dennis.
Rouppet pointed the finger at Republicans and said our volatile politics have been spilling over into partisan violence long before Saturday.
"There's no comparison between the violence that was perpetrated against former speaker Pelosi's husband and the attempted kidnapping of the governor in Michigan. This is unacceptable. This has been building, and this is not equal science here."
Both sides agree that someone needs to lower the temperature in the room and that what this moment needs is more healing and less heat.
However, they seem to be stuck waiting for the other to make the first move.
"President Biden would do himself a favor by saying that he was responsible for hyperbolic language and that he's going to stop doing that moving forward," said Dennis.
"There is an impact, and it's about owning that impact, and right now, it seems like it's a free-for-all for people to ramp up that rhetoric and not being able to take any accountability," Rouppet responded.
For now, they both hope that this call for unity resonates throughout the country, bringing a sense of calm and cooperation. However, they understand that with an election year underway, it will be up to the campaigns to manage that tone moving forward.
