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Former President Donald Trump had a chance to effectively end the 2024 presidential race on Thursday with a speech that emphasized a theme he has already said he will prioritize: unity.
Not unity for unity’s sake, but the idea that the American experiment and our basic American sense of freedom, freedom of speech — our core values – need to be respected and valued by all people.
This does not prevent Trump from enunciating his “MAGA” agenda of fighting inflation, closing the border, cutting taxes, reducing foreign involvement, etc. On the contrary, if Trump’s policies are framed in the context of national unity, he will be doing himself and the country a great service.
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To be sure, this would be a big shift for the former president, as he has used polarizing and divisive rhetoric to gain political success for much of his career. I say this not to say that Trump is to blame for anything other than his lower approval ratings than most presidential candidates.
At this point, given last Saturday’s tragedy and Trump’s apparently heroic response, he has the opportunity to make it permanently clear where he stands with regard to American democracy and the interests of a wide range of Americans of all races, genders and nationalities.
Indeed, Republican presidents from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan to both Bushes have, in different ways and at different times, been able to unify the country after crises that called for leadership beyond attack ads and snide reposts of their opponents.
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Donald Trump has a unique, and perhaps only, opportunity to achieve a similar goal in the coming days.
This may sound like a sermon-filled sermon, but given the polarization and division that has existed thus far, and President Biden’s Oval Office speech on Sunday, it’s clear that Trump, who captured the attention of virtually the entire country with his speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, is able to put the past behind him.
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Moreover, Trump is able to construct a new narrative about himself in a way that was virtually impossible before the assassination attempt.
As a Democrat and someone who has never been a supporter of Trump, I sincerely hope that he will fully and wholeheartedly embrace this approach. It is in his own interest, and in the interest of our country and our democracy, that he do so.
A message of unity has the added benefit of helping to garner support from swing voters, suburban women and independents at elections.
Similarly, emphasizing unity is more important than ever after President Trump’s vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance, called out Biden after the assassination attempt on Trump.
Trump now has a golden opportunity to fundamentally change the 2024 campaign.
But most importantly, by forcefully upholding our values, our culture and the urgency of unity in the face of the terrible divisions and horrific events of last weekend, Mr. Trump can fundamentally change his own image and improve America’s standing around the world.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden maintained a conciliatory tone in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday night, emphasizing that he was grateful that Trump was safe and urging Americans to ease tensions while condemning political violence.
That said, Biden has regretted saying just days before the shooting that “it was time to get tough on President Trump,” and frankly, the president himself doesn’t have much credibility in defusing tensions.
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But the fact that Biden endorsed Trump, called him last Saturday and called off parts of his own campaign rhetoric while avoiding the rhetoric he has used in the past is a step in the right direction.
But this is a big week for Trump with the Republican National Convention, and given that he has proven himself heroic in many ways, the onus is on the former president to prove he can rise to the occasion again.
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