US President Joe Biden's re-election campaign is in further disarray after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Even before Saturday's shooting, Mr Biden's bid to stay in the White House was facing an existential crisis, with fellow Democrats calling on the President, 81, to step aside after a poor debate performance and subsequent gaffes underscored his apparent cognitive decline.
Now Mr Biden must address the split screen of his own seemingly feeble physical and mental state contrasted with Trump's bloodied and defiant pose after a bullet nicked his ear at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Further complicating Mr Biden's messaging is the fact that his campaign has had to pull many of the negative advertisements that had been planned to attack Trump.
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Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by US Secret Service agents and helped off stage at a campaign rally. AP Photo -
Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler. AP Photo -
Members of the crowd react as US Secret Service agents surround Trump at the campaign event in Butler. AP Photo -
Trump is helped off stage by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler. AP Photo -
Trump supporters laying in the stands after shots were fired at the campaign event. AFP -
People scatter after gunfire rang out during the campaign rally in Pennsylvania. AFP -
Trump is rushed off stage after an incident during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania. EPA -
Blood is seen in the stands after shots were fired at Trump's campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania. AFP -
Trump reacts as shots ring out during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Reuters -
Secret Service agents dive to cover Trump after shots were heard. AP -
Trump is covered by Secret Service agents on stage. AP -
Trump is rushed off stage. EPA -
Trump is shown covered by Secret Service agents. AFP -
Blood can be seen on Trump's head after shots were heard. AFP -
Trump is taken away from rally. ABC/ US Network Pool / Reuters -
Supporters look on as Trump is rushed off stage. EPA -
Trump is pushed into a vehicle by Secret Service agents. AP -
A person is removed by state police from the stands after the shooting. AFP -
Secret Service agents surround the stage. AP -
Secret Service agents patrol after the incident. Reuters -
A Secret Service agent gives directions at the Trump rally. Getty Images / AFP -
The stage after the shooting. Reuters -
People watch the Trump rally on TV. AP -
A monitor displays news from Trump's rally. Bloomberg -
Trump gestures he leaves the stage at the campaign rally. AP Photo
Mr Biden has cited Trump's refusal to accept the results of the 2020 elections, his involvement in riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and his overall rhetoric to make the case to the American people that Trump is a would-be dictator.
The Biden campaign had invested tens of millions of dollars in advertisements attacking Trump as a threat to democracy, but observers say that argument has lost resonance with voters now that the former president has become the victim of the most extreme form of anti-democratic assault.
The President must now overcome the “common perception that he's weak, or the weaker of the two candidates”, John Feehery, a Republican strategist, told The National.
Mr Feehery said the argument that Trump is a threat to democracy had failed to land with many voters even before the shooting, as it resonated more with wealthy liberal voters than everyday Americans who care more about the kitchen table and economic issues.
Experts suggest Mr Biden could continue to portray himself as a “good steward for America” but move away from attacks on Trump and focus on issues such as the economy and reproductive rights.
But anything Mr Biden says this week may be largely drowned out by the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump is expected to be feted as a hero as he is officially nominated as the party's presidential candidate.
“I think that this week for [Biden], he has to recalibrate and he is not going to win it this week, he's not going to make the comeback this week,” Mr Feehery said.
“So he's got to just give the Republicans their time and apply the strategies from there.”
A quiet mutiny that had been gathering momentum among Democrats to pressure Mr Biden to step down appears to have quelled since the shooting but many remain unhappy with the President and see him as having little chance of beating Trump in the November 5 election.
In a debate with Trump last month, Mr Biden gave a widely criticised performance in which he frequently failed to finish sentences, muddled words and looked ill.
At a Nato summit last week, he referred to his own deputy, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump” and mixed up the names of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
Mr Biden was due to give an interview to NBC News that would be broadcast late on Monday. Biden officials told US media the President's campaign would be stepped up again after the broadcast, with a message that would contrast his vision for the future with that of Trump, who frequently speaks in apocalyptic terms about the state of the US.
"While I think the messaging needs to be reshaped or reworded in some way, the core piece of truth there does not change," Democratic strategist Alyssa Batchelor told The National.
"President Biden did a really great job of addressing the nation and addressing that we solve our differences at the ballot box, not with political violence."
Ms Batchelor said it was unlikely for the shooting or its aftermath to have a lasting impact on the vote in November, amid a constantly evolving and unpredictable news cycle.
