After Trump shooting, it's not enough for GOP, Democrats to speak against violence

They’ve all said the right things, because they all know what they’re supposed to say.

But in order to make it mean something, in order for it to have a chance to resonate in a way that people will believe it, even act on it, they need to say it together. Political rivals, side by side.

It could start with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump , of course.

Or it could start anywhere else. Even here in Arizona.

The message is meaningless unless you back it up

After the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, just about every politician and political commentator in America came forward with the same sentiment .

"Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence . It’s sick. It’s sick," Biden said.

Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, wrote on X: "I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society ."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, also on X, said that "all Americans are grateful that President Trump appears to be fine after a despicable attack on a peaceful rally." Adding, “ Violence has no place in our politics .”

It’s the same message over and over . It’s something we’d like to believe.

Trump shooting lead to chaos: Trump rally shooting breeds social media lies and sick conspiracies. What's wrong with us?

Can elected officials show actual civility, actual tolerance, actual respect?

But it needs to be said more openly, more forcefully and together for that to happen. And it needs to be followed up with action. Money talks, the old saying goes, and BS walks.

In our little desert paradise it could begin with all 11 members of Arizona's congressional delegation ‒ the six Republicans representatives, the three House Democrats, our Democratic senator and our independent senator ‒ in a room, condemning violence and the violent rhetoric that might lead to it.

Together.

And meaning what they say.

After Trump rally shooting, Americans need to pull together. This is our wake-up call.

I’m not talking about kumbaya for kumbaya’s sake. I’m talking about a demonstration of actual civility, actual tolerance, actual respect.

Put members of the Arizona delegation in a room, in front of cameras

The New York Times wrote an editorial Saturday with a headline saying, “The Attack on Donald Trump Is Antithetical to America ,” while admitting in the same editorial that according to a recent survey by the Chicago Project on Security and Threats that “10 percent of respondents agreed that the use of force was justified to prevent Mr. Trump from becoming president, and 7 percent said the use of force was justified to return Mr. Trump to the presidency.”

That doesn’t sound very “antithetical” to me.

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Politicians need to show us that it is. They need to prove it. If Trump and Biden are reluctant to do so just now, politicians in places like Arizona, who support Trump and who support Biden, can do so.

Get in the same room, in front of cameras, and talk about it, demonstrate it – Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, Reps. David Schweikert, Eli Crane, Ruben Gallego, Greg Stanton, Andy Biggs, Juan Ciscomani, Raul Grijalva, Debbie Lesko and Paul Gosar.

Before the country can come together in peace our politicians need to come together in peace. For real . They don’t have to hold hands. They don’t have to sing kumbaya.

They have to do something much more important than that. They have to convince us they mean it.

Then – and this is the really hard part – they’ll have to live it.

EJ Montini is a columnist at The Arizona Republic, where this column first appeared . Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: After Trump shooting, it's not enough for GOP, Democrats to speak against violence