Biden campaign, leftist media characterize JD Vance as 'extreme' just 2 days after assassination attempt on Trump

Just two days after a deadly shooting that nearly took the life of former President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign and media leftists have employed hyperbolic language to describe his VP pick, Sen. J. D. Vance (R-Ohio).

In the hours following the shooting at Trump's rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Democrats and their media allies called for toning down the political rhetoric. In an address from the Oval Office on Sunday night, Joe Biden encouraged everyone to "lower the temperature in our politics."

'If the GOP under Trump has indeed evolved into an authoritarian party, then Vance hails from its authoritarian wing.'

"While we may disagree, we are not enemies," Biden said, according to a White House transcript. "We’re neighbors. We’re friends, coworkers, citizens. And, most importantly, we are fellow Americans. And we must stand together."

"We all have a responsibility to do that."

The Biden campaign even suspended all its public communications — including attack ads that present Trump as "an existential threat to our democracy."

'Divisive, MAGA-aligned': Leftist outlets weigh in on Vance

Those calls for unity seem to have been short-lived.

After Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential candidate, leftist outlets Vox, Mother Jones, and MeidasTouch and even the "Biden-Harris" campaign resorted to the same incendiary language Biden had seemingly put on hiatus.

Vox editor in chief Swati Sharma wrung her hands that Vance had dared challenge the 2020 presidential election, advocated on behalf of J6 defendants, expressed support for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and crossed the aisle to try and advance policies that benefit the working class.

"If the GOP under Trump has indeed evolved into an authoritarian party, then Vance hails from its authoritarian wing," Sharma wrote.

"His worldview is fundamentally incompatible with the basic principles of American democracy."

Sharma tiptoed up to the line of calling Vance a threat to democracy without ever crossing it, though she came close, insisting that Vance has occasionally evinced deeper "anti-democratic fervor" than Trump.

Inae Oh, a senior news and engagement editor at Mother Jones, was similarly careful. Oh described Vance as having "a deeply MAGA persona" and as using "divisive, MAGA-aligned rhetoric." With Trump and Vance together, Oh claimed the top of the Republican ticket is "steeped in election lies."

By contrast, MeidasTouch author Aaron Parnas seemingly made no attempt at subtlety or circumspection and openly called Vance "one of the most extreme VP picks in recent memory."

Biden does about-face on lowering the temperature

While Parnas' words may seem inflammatory, he seems to be echoing the sentiments of the Biden-Harris campaign, which claimed Vance would help advance Trump's "extreme MAGA agenda," according to a statement shared by MeidasTouch.

"Over the next three and a half months, we will spend every single day making the case between the two starkly contrasting visions Americans will choose between at the ballot box this November: the Biden-Harris ticket who's focused on uniting the country, creating opportunity for everyone, and lowering costs; or Trump-Vance — whose harmful agenda will take away Americans' rights, hurt the middle class, and make life more expensive — all while benefiting the ultra-rich and greedy corporations," the statement apparently concluded (emphasis added).

In an interview on Monday with Lester Holt of NBC News, Biden expressed few regrets about his language regarding Trump.

"How do you talk about the threat to democracy — which is real — when a president says things like he says? Do you just not say anything — because it may incite somebody?" Biden asked.

Though Biden did admit that calling to put Trump "in a bullseye" — as Biden did last week — was "a mistake," he indicated his overall point was obvious. "I meant focus on him. Focus on what he’s doing. Focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told at the debate," he explained.

"I’m not the guy that said, 'I want to be a dictator on day one.' I'm not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. I'm not the guy who said he won't accept the outcome of this election automatically," Biden continued.

Biden insisted that while Trump has continued to unleash vitriol about a possible "bloodbath" if he loses, he has remained above the fray. "I am not engaged in that rhetoric," he said.

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