Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio suggested Wednesday that Democrats should “pump the brakes” on rhetoric about former President Trump to be safe.
Speaking to reporters in North Carolina, Vance pointed to speeches at the Democratic National Convention this week and said Democrats may be “starting to step up their rhetoric.”
“So when you tell the American people that this man must be stopped at all costs, I hope they remember that while most people will respond rationally to that, some people will go crazy and take matters into their own hands,” Vance said. “I encourage my Democratic friends to put the brakes on a little bit of apocalyptic rhetoric around Donald Trump.”
Democrats “recognize that saying this man is an existential threat to American democracy may inspire crazy people to act on their own,” Vance said, noting that they had “softened their stance” following the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally last month.
But speakers at the convention were signaling they may no longer be willing to tone down their political rhetoric, Vance argued.
At this week’s Democratic National Convention, various speakers, including former President Barack Obama, have criticized President Trump in their speeches so far.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told Vance in a speech Monday night that Republican voters “tried to kill your predecessor” in response to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Raskin, who served on the special committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol, noted that during the riot, many rioters looked to former Vice President Mike Pence as a last resort to stop the transfer of power to President Biden, making him a target.
The Trump campaign responded to Raskin, accusing the Maryland Democrat of “trying to politicize the assassination,” just a month after a gunman opened fire on the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Vance said the softening of his rhetoric was largely due to “the leadership of Donald Trump.”
“So he had every right to stand up after he was shot in the ear and be furious and condemn the Democrats, and instead he called for national calm and unity,” Vance said. “I think Donald Trump is to blame for any easing of tensions. Again, people [accused] He was considered a cowboy, yet he responded to that moment with amazing clarity and calm.”
Immediately after the shooting, Trump called for national unity, but that call lasted less than a week as Biden withdrew from the presidential race, and Trump has since launched personal attacks against Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
