After assassination attempt on Trump, Biden’s political challenge changes in an instant

Washington CNN —

President Joe Biden was bracing for a week of political onslaught.

More Democratic lawmakers were expected to publicly call on him to drop out of the 2024 race, a grueling campaign schedule would put his stamina on display and a high-stakes TV interview was sure to once again spotlight questions about his age, health and fitness to serve a second term.

When gunshots rang out at a Donald Trump political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday evening, much of that appeared to change.

At least for a brief moment, politics largely came to a halt. As bipartisan calls condemning the horrific attack on Trump poured in from all corners of the country, the Biden campaign immediately paused TV ads and political communications, and the White House would also postpone the president’s trip to Monday to Texas, where he had planned to attend a fundraiser. He also addressed the nation from the Oval Office, calling for a lowering of the political temperature.

Something else largely came to a halt: The calls from within Biden’s own party for him to abandon his campaign for a second term. Until that moment, those calls had been growing by the day since his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month.

Even as the Biden campaign is working to delicately navigate a moment of national trauma and shock, some allies of the president are privately hopeful that the assassination attempt on Trump may ultimately end up quelling the Democratic dissent as the party recognizes the importance of standing as a united front. Biden returns to the campaign trail this week when he visits Nevada, a critical swing state. The trip will mark his first public test of campaigning against his predecessor in front of the