Biden Missed a Golden Opportunity for Unity By Not Condemning Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin on Kimmel

President Joe Biden appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday night for a lengthy and, at times, elliptical discussion about his first year and a half in office. But the commander in chief missed a golden opportunity for some bipartisan unity by not clearly condemning threats of political violence following Wednesday’s thwarted assassination attempt of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Wednesday morning, news broke that a 26-year-old California man was arrested nearby the Maryland home of Justice Kavanaugh with a gun and a knife after he called 911 himself. He reportedly claimed to have suicidal ideation and revealed his goal was to kill the Supreme Court justice over what appears to be an eventual overturning of the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade.

Clearly, tensions are high in the nation over reproductive rights and a potential overturning of Roe v. Wade is a huge deal. But showing up outside anyone’s home, armed and with the intention to kill is, you know, a horrible and illegal thing.

The White House did issue a statement on behalf of Biden Wednesday, which condemned the plot to murder the jurist.

“The president condemns the actions of this individual in strong terms and is grateful to law enforcement for quickly taking him into custody,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, during a press gaggle. “As the president has consistently made clear, public officials, including judges, must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety or that of their families, and any threats of violence or attempts to intimidate judges have no place in our society.”

But President Biden did not mention this once during his roughly 23-minute interview with Jimmy Kimmel which aired Wednesday evening on ABC, and the late-night host never even brought it up. Of course, they spoke about subject matter that was more politically charitable to the president, who complained about messaging issues and unfair treatment by a new media landscape that appears to have caught Biden by surprise.

Much of the interview went exactly the way one would expect. There was little that was unique or surprising about it. Was he at times a bit rambling? Sure, but not much different than how we typically see the president perform publicly, for better or worse.

But imagine if the first thing President Biden did on Kimmel was address the Kavanaugh attack in a clear and forceful manner? What if he opened with something like this:

“I’d like to start by first condemning the failed attack on Justice Kavanaugh that happened today. I completely condemn this sort of behavior and thank the law enforcement that arrested this suspect. But also? Folks, we need to calm down. Nothing good will come from political violence ever, and I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican. We are ALL Americans and we have more in common with one another than differences. We need to take a deep breath and calm down. If you have a problem with what’s unfolding politically? Vote! Protest peacefully. But violent attacks are never the solution and make matters much worse than better.”

Coming out hard against political assassination attempts is something everyone can agree on right? But somehow, impossibly, this was never suggested to Biden by a White House communications team whose incompetence in supporting the president is becoming more evident with every passing week, especially since Jen Psaki left the administration.

Biden’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live had all the markings of a communications reset. A chance for an unfiltered and disintermediated Biden experience with a political ally and fan. It very much reminded me of when then-president Barack Obama appeared on The Daily Show in late October of 2010 before a midterm shellacking. Biden needed a media win, and being surrounded by an adoring audience should have been the tonic he needed while his approval ratings plummet.

But this was a real missed opportunity. The president reiterated much of the very same talking points that landed him in this position and did not offer any of the bromides to the other side that could very well have transcended the bitter political divide in which we find ourselves. Calling out a thwarted assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh would have been a great message to remind the nation he is the president of all Americans and not just Democrats.

It’s a shame he missed this opportunity.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.