For two weeks, calls had been mounting among Democrats to replace President Joe Biden as the top contender for the 2024 presidential ticket over concerns about his age and mental capacity.
But the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump has temporarily halted the flood of demands for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.
In the days before a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Washington had been in turmoil over whether Joe Biden would remain the Democratic presidential nominee.
Longtime friends and colleagues of Joe Biden, such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have signaled — Pelosi publicly on MSNBC and Schumer privately — their openness to a new candidate at the top of the ticket.
Polls show Trump surging since the debate and some betting markets have favored Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the nomination amid concerns about Biden’s mental and physical fitness.
But according to Democratic Party insiders, the coup attempt to replace Biden has been put on hold as the party reacts to the very real assassination attempt on the former president.
President Joe Biden speaks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 14, 2024, about the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Party members say he has avoided a political insurrection from within, at least for the moment, as attention turns to the shooting of Trump
‘It just loses all the momentum’ because of the shooting, Biden ally said NBC News“I think the attempt to overthrow Biden is over,” they added.
One seasoned Democratic strategist said: “They were having a really bad political day and then this supernova event happened. Now, it’s frozen.”
“If you’re a believer in the idea of ’How do we tell the elderly that it’s time to go?’ it’s very difficult to have that conversation publicly. This event blocks out the sun right now.”
Following Saturday night’s shooting, the Biden campaign announced it would suspend attack ads against Trump that would air on television and other platforms.
The president also called an emergency press conference to address the shooting.
Dressed in a blue sports jacket and no tie, he addressed the nation, condemning the violence in no uncertain terms.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick,” he said Saturday night.
“It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country.”
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he is helped off the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., Saturday, July 13, 2024.
Within the Democratic Party, operatives were quick to shut down political discourse and counter attacks on Trump and those calling for Biden to resign.
Internal files obtained by NBC News reveal the campaign’s swift response to the devastating assassination attempt that left the shooter and a bystander dead.
“We will refrain from issuing any comments on social media or in public,” the Biden campaign said internally, and “pause any proactive campaign communications on all platforms and in all circumstances until we know more.”
Another Biden ally said it would be unbecoming of a Democrat to attack an opponent who recently escaped an assassination attempt.
“The effort to unseat Biden is likely over. He’s not going to step aside voluntarily at this point,” the second ally said. “Biden has shown he’s going to fight.”
Caution is needed given the shocking results of the deadly attacks.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire on former President Donald Trump with an AR-style rifle from a rooftop 130 yards from the stage of his campaign rally at 6:15 p.m.
Bullets from his gun killed Corey Comperatore, the retired Buffalo City Fire Chief, who died a hero protecting his family.
A bullet grazed the former president’s ear before he leaned forward and was eventually covered by a group of Secret Service workers.
Lawmakers have since called for investigations into the Secret Service and its leaders.
They have also begun working on a bill to improve Secret Service protection for candidates like Trump, Biden and even Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The president addresses his supporters moments before the shooting.
Former Navy SEAL Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who has experience setting up perimeters in combat zones, said the fact that the shooter was able to access a “nearby rooftop” to target Trump was an “absolute failure of security.”
And House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, told DailyMail.com in a statement that he plans to hold a hearing with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to get to the bottom of the failures.
The House Homeland Security Committee also released a statement indicating its desire to hold a hearing with the Secret Service.