After Trump assassination attempt, a reckoning over American political rhetoric

BUTLER, Pa. — A day after the shocking assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, a nation is left wondering whether the political polarization that has gripped the country has grown too severe.

Leaders responded with shock, condolences and calls to turn down the rhetorical heat.

“We’re all Americans, and we have to treat one another with dignity and respect,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview Sunday on NBC News' "Weekend Today." He went on to echo the blame that Trump allies are placing on President Joe Biden who used the word "bullseye" on a campaign call last week with donors.

“I mean, I know that he didn’t mean what is being implied there,” Johnson said Sunday about Biden’s comments, but added, “that kind of language on either side should be called out.”

Trump, who was hit in the ear by a bullet, was released Saturday night from the hospital while two spectators who were seriously injured remain hospitalized. Another spectator was killed.

"In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win," Trump wrote on the website Truth Social on Sunday morning.

Witnesses at the rally described a chaotic scene in the moments after the shooting.

In the front row of the rally, attendees heard a series of pops and saw Secret Service agents jump on the stage. One, who identified herself as Erin, told NBC News that she saw blood on Trump’s ear. She did not fear for her own safety, she said. “We were only concerned about him,” she said, referring to Trump.

Investigators have yet to say how the shooter, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas