A leading political scientist at Ohio State University said U.S. political discourse is at its worst point since the Civil War and it could escalate.
Professor Michael Neblo, the director the OSU's Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability, was in Italy on a personal trip when he heard former President Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania. Neblo told WOSU he's still learning details of the assassination attempt but said there are worrying signs political rhetoric will get worse as the November general election nears.
Neblo said inflamed rhetoric risks the presidential campaign environment getting worse, but battle metaphors in politics have always been common. He said after an assassination attempt, that needs to stop.
Neblo echoes what President Joe Biden and many other politicians in Ohio and the U.S. have called for. Biden addressed the nation Sunday, one day after Trump was shot, and called for heated rhetoric to "cool down."
"Football players do this, it's not really war. I do think there's a mode in which we speak where you're not always necessarily, signaling violence by using these sorts of words under these circumstances," Neblo said. "In the aftermath of an assassination attempt absolutely stop the war metaphors, stop the gunsight metaphors."
Neblo was referring to comments Biden made on a private donor call where he said it was time to put Trump "in the bullseye" just days before Trump was shot. The Associated Press reported a person familiar with those remarks said the president was trying to make the point that Trump had gotten away with a light public schedule after last month’s debate while the president himself faced intense scrutiny.
Neblo said political rhetoric doesn't have to be this way.
"Rhetoric just means a use of speech to attempt to persuade. Meeting people where they are and understanding where they're coming from and trying to use language to appeal to them from that point of view," Neblo said.
Neblo said he remembers when politicians like Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were civil towards each other.
"They referred to each other as 'my esteemed opponent.' It is absolutely unambiguous that there has been a massive decline in civility and respectfulness," Neblo said.
Neblo said it is realistic for candidates to tone it down, but he thinks "the gloves have come off."
U.S. Senator J.D. Vance and others have posted inflammatory language since the attempted assassination.
Vance pointed the finger directly at Biden after the shooting. He said on social media that "The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."
Vance was just chosen by Trump as his running mate on Monday.
U.S. Representative from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene said on social media in the aftermath of the shooting that the U.S. is "in a battle between GOOD and EVIL" and claimed the Democratic Party is "flat out evil" and tried to murder Trump.
Neblo said he expects discourse like this may escalate and find its way more and more into mainstream discussions. He said he hopes it does not.
Neblo says he thinks the U.S. hasn't had worse political discourse since the Civil War. He is worried because politicians like President Abraham Lincoln had a level of restraint when it came to harsh political rhetoric, even during the war.
"I just worry that coming in second to the Civil War and not having that level of restraint and commitment to fighting the right way, if we have to fight, is just a very dangerous and worrisome thing," Neblo said.
