Donald Trump has the stagecraft but Joe Biden still commands the biggest stage.
A day after the former US president displayed his preternatural genius for spectacle – forcing the Secret Service to pause so he could show bloody defiance after a near-death experience – the spotlight turned back to his beleaguered election opponent.
On Sunday, Biden delivered an Oval Office address for only the third time in his presidency, having previously done so when a deal was reached to avoid a breach of the debt ceiling and to comment on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
The set piece allowed him to demonstrate the power of incumbency, sending a message to Democratic rebels who want the 81-year-old to step aside amid concerns he lacks the mental agility to beat Trump.
The familiar trappings of the Resolute Desk against a backdrop of family photos, window, flags and curtains also sought to project the image of Biden as president rather than candidate, an elder statesman rising above the fray to call for national unity after a traumatic moment.
It was a solemn duty that came with relative ease to a man who, during 36 years in the Senate, made bipartisanship a cornerstone of his political identity.
There is a need to “lower the temperature in our politics”, said Biden, his voice more solid and less throaty than during a recent debate and press conference. “And to remember: while we may disagree, we are not enemies.”
The president urged everyone to take a “step back” and recognise the chilling pattern of the January 6 insurrection, the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the intimidation of election officials, the kidnapping plot against Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and the assassination attempt against Trump.
“We cannot allow this violence to be normalised. The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do this.”
Biden, embracing his role as repairer of the breach, made a plea: “In America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box – you know that’s how we do it, at the ballot box, not with bullets. The power to change American should should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin.”
Biden nodded towards a return to politics as usual soon, noting that the Republican convention starts on Monday and highlighting his own campaign efforts.
But some of the old glitches did not disappear. While Biden showed his generous spirit by saying he had called his opponent and prayed for him, he referred to “former Trump” instead of “former President Trump”.
The cold, dispassionate reality is that the failed assassination of Trump has strengthened the hand of both presidential candidates. Biden had been desperate to change the post-debate narrative and that happened in a way he would not have wished.
Democrats have privately admitted that this is not the time to mount a challenge to his leadership, when they are concerned about the safety of their staff. But in the mind of the electorate, the perception of Biden as doddery and declining is likely to persist.
For Trump, the gain is greater. What happened on Saturday turned the old maxim – what does not kill him makes stronger – literal. The circus master’s presence of mind, raising a fist and shouting “Fight!” to his supporters, produced a photograph for the ages and guaranteed his status as both messiah and martyr.
This week the spotlight will turn firmly back in his direction. Come Thursday, instead of the august setting of the Oval Office, there will be the kitsch theatrics of a primetime speech at the Republican convention.
Trump could do something truly historic by echoing Biden’s address, insisting that violence has no place in politics, accepting that his own narrow escape is a cathartic moment and now America must pull back from the brink. The rest of the election campaign could be one of decency and grace.
Commentators would gush that Trump had become “presidential” and of course it wouldn’t last. Biden might have the bully pulpit but Trump remains the bully to beat.
