It’s been over 13 years since former Congresswoman Gabby Gifford was shot, prompting calls in 2011 for unity amid a rise in the political rhetoric at the time.

It temporarily happened, but it didn’t last for long.

A little more than seven years ago, a politically motivated gunman open fire on Republicans during a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., injuring five people including Louisiana U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise.

Once again, there were calls for calm and unity. That happened briefly, before the angry rhetoric returned.

In the aftermath of an attempted assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump Saturday during a rally in Butler, Pa., some Alabama politicians past and present, and political experts are saying to expect more of the same.

“I do not believe there should be any reduction in the vigor of exercise of First Amendment Freedom of Speech rights,” said former Republican U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville. He was a survivor of the June 14, 2017, shooting during a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., that injured five people including Louisiana U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise.

“Each side in a policy debate should be allowed to express their views as they believe is best to persuade the voters of the correctness of their cause,” Brooks said. “What we need is a better understanding amongst all citizens that political violence is the enemy of our republic. In a republic, you solve your differences at the ballot box and not by killing your opponents.”

Lower the temperature

Alabama Republicans, in Wisconsin for this week’s Republican National Convention, believe that leaders and voters play a role in tempering the heated political rhetoric, though they are not optimistic the angry discourse will subside anytime soon.

“Leaders in this country have got to start focusing on the issue and less on the personalities,” said U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile. “In politics, we all want to attack one another. I’m as guilty as anyone else in this. But we have to focus on the issues ourselves and how can we be a better country? The immigration issue is an example. We have to, as a country, be able to sit down and work it through. But in Washington, you are either on the right and the left and there is no in between. You get back to your district and you have to be as far right as you can get. It’s a juggling match.”

John Merrill, the former Alabama Republican Secretary of State, said the country needs to “quit electing people with a propensity for division,” adding that it’s important to vote for candidates who support moving the country forward.

“In doing so, we elect someone who is willing to listen to arguments presented on both sides and adopt the best position in the best interest of the country as a whole,” said Merrill. “When we start to have that respectful dialogue, we’ll be in a more stronger position on what is in our country’s best interest and be able to move forward. Until that time, it’s going to be continued divisive rhetoric.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on the floor at the RNC Monday, said she wished the media would do a better job of covering Congress whenever there is bipartisanship on policy matters. She said there are examples, including what she said was her work with Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar on mental health issues.

“The only things that get covered are hot button soundbites,” Britt said. “Unity is out there. Where we share a common goal. Treating our colleagues with dignity and respect is something we should do every day.”

Calls for unity seem to be occurring from the White House and from Trump. President Joe Biden, in an Oval Office address Sunday, urged Americans to “lower the temperature of our politics.” Trump, in an interview with The Washington Examiner, said he was rewriting his nomination speech to make it more “unifying.”

Brilyn Hollyhand, a Tuscaloosa teen who is a member of the RNC Youth Advisory Council, said the attempted assassination shows that “politics has gotten too hot, and it needs to be taken down” a few notches.

He said Republicans in Milwaukee are “committed for this to be a unifying convention.”

Heat is on

The most heated of the rhetoric can be found on social media, where conspiracy theories have spread and anger has exploded in the days following the shooting.

Republicans, on “X” and elsewhere, claimed the Democratic Party has painted Trump out as a demagogue intent on destroying democracy, and were to blame for the shooting. Some Republicans have also criticized the media’s role in how the ex-president has long been portrayed.

Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, in a post to “X,” blamed the “rhetoric of the radical left” for causing problems that led to the shooting. Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl blamed the “radical rhetoric” of the mainstream media for inciting people to “senseless acts of violence.”

Trump’s running mate, Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, said on “X” that the shooting was not “just some isolated incident” but was the “central premise of the Biden campaign” against Trump.”

“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” Vance said.

While the gunman’s motives remain unclear, baseless claims have spread online about a left-sanctioned attempted killing of Trump. Some Democratic candidates have joined online to suggest that the shooting was staged.

“We need more self-control,” said Peter Loge, associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “Not every event in the world is crying out for our hot take and you don’t have to share every hot take that you have. You don’t need an opinion about everything and not everyone needs to have an opinion on everything. I know we do things that get rewarded and if the reward on social media is getting attention, and the extreme and outrageous get attention, people will be extreme and outrageous. I don’t know if you regulate it away.”

He added, “But people should say, ‘hang on, maybe I shouldn’t say this.’ We can express those opinions in ways that strengthen our democracy and democratic norms that we don’t dehumanize those with whom we disagree. Part of our responsibility in a democracy is to be passionate and engaged, but to do it in a way that strengthens the democracy.”

Brooks has one idea for the social media problems — limit your use.

“I don’t engage much in it,” said Brooks, who doesn’t’ have a Facebook account and limits his use on “X” now that he is no longer in elected politics. “I’m not much for these blips and blurbs that do not allow for a cogent discussion about what is good or bad about public policy decisions. I learned long ago, that as often as not, what you get on social media is false and not true.”

Solutions

But absent deleting social media, or scaling back one’s use of the platforms, what – if anything – can be done to calm the rhetoric?

One expert on political rhetoric said the calls for peace and unity is a good start.

“Those calls to unity can work to reduce the tension, especially if political elites and partisan media focus more on what we have in common as Americans and less on what divides us,” said Jennifer Mercieca , professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Texas A&M University and a historian of American political rhetoric.

She said that media outlets need to dial down temperatures over reporting the nation’s divisions and push for a more accurate portrayal.

“Politicians and the media have leaned too heavily on outrage and conspiracy to attract audiences and focused too little on what we agree on and problem solving,” Mercieca said. “We have more in common than we’re led to believe, but our news tells us that we’re hopelessly divided.”

Voter backlash will also help, others say.

“Beyond the fringes in each party’s base, the vast majority of voters do indeed want to tone down the language and emotions and get back to focusing on solving problems and getting stuff done,” said Zac McCrary, a Democratic pollster based in Montgomery. “I would expect voters to penalize either political party if it seems like one or both is attempting to exploit the events of last Saturday or are otherwise continuing to engage in violent rhetoric or hyperbole.”

Sean Sullivan, who owns a radio station in Mobile and is the host of “Midday Mobile” on FMTalk 1065, spent most of Monday taking calls from listeners with a host of views about the shooting. He, like McCrary, said that heated political rhetoric will not change unless the public demands it.

“I think heated speech will continue,” Sullivan said. “Not until heated rhetoric is rejected by the voters will things change, and I don’t see that coming anytime soon.”

Michael Jensen, principal investigator with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, has said the polarization of political rhetoric has moved into a “cycle of radicalization” that might not be broken anytime soon.

“The amplification of negative messaging by wealthy and influential figures, the unwillingness of social media companies to do much of anything about mis- and disinformation, and the political expediency of casting political opponents as inherently evil not only makes it hard to change the political climate but makes it incredibly likely that more political violence is to come,” Jensen said.

He doesn’t see any relief in sight.

“Ultimately, in order to change the state we’re in, those who stoke the flames of violence must be defeated at the ballot box,” Jensen said. “Unfortunately, I see little indication at this point that this will happen anytime soon.”