How do we lower the political temperature in a divided nation?

The FBI is still searching for a motive in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Republican and Democratic leaders have urged Americans to turn down the temperature of rhetoric that demonizes and dehumanizes political opposition 
to try to take the edge off the anger and division that’s come to be standard in public discourse.

But it’s not clear everybody’s listening to that hopeful message.

We had reports that former President Trump had moderated his speech for the GOP convention in Milwaukee this week to focus on a message of unity. But this morning, Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate the dismissal of the classified documents case in Florida.

He decried what he calls a “weaponization of our Justice system.” And he claimed without evidence that the numerous legal cases against him a “conspiracy” coordinated by the “Democrat Justice Department” to hurt “Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME.”

So - are we back where we started? 

Are the events of the past 48 hours going to lead to any change in the tone and tenor of mistrust and polarization that defines our politics in 2024?

And if so, how might that change be realized? 

Soundside host Libby Denkmann spends the hour exploring these questions with a variety of experts.

Guests:

• KUOW politics reporter Scott Greenstone
• Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan
• Jacob Ware - a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the author of "God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America."
• Ronald Feinman - a professor at Florida Atlantic University, and the author of “Assassinations, Threats and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama.”

• Monica Guzman - host of the podcast “A Braver Way”, and a senior fellow at “Braver Angels” - a cross-partisan organization dedicated to political depolarization. She’s also the author of the book “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to have fearlessly curious conversations in dangerously divided times.”