Metro Atlanta residents say politics is at a fever pitch

“It’s not verbal anymore,” Davis said. “It’s become physical and that’s not good.”

East Atlanta resident James Whyte, 50, a registered Democrat who voted in the last election, was home cooking dinner when he saw the shooting alert. Whyte said he still plans to vote for Biden, but he worries about safety at future campaign events.

“It reinforces my sense of fear,” Whyte says. “I hope there won’t be retaliation.”

Eduardo Delgado, 64, who lives in Miami but visits family in Marietta, said he already planned to vote for Trump this fall. He believes Saturday’s shooting could tip the scales in the former president’s favor among undecided voters.

Delgado defended Second Amendment rights after the shooting, saying people have a right to feel protected. He emphasized that the shooter acted as an individual.

Chainee Woods, 32, decided early on that he would vote for Trump. But the current political climate has him hesitant to choose either candidate.

“Right now, it’s a little crazy,” said Woods, who was walking through Colony Square in Midtown on Monday.

Chad Hoffecker, who was also at Colony Square, said the current political climate is too intense. It’s become more about party affiliation than ideas, he said.

“We stopped listening to each other,” said Hoffecker, 52, adding that he was sure he would vote for Biden.

Tom Bonnar, a 76-year-old Marietta resident, called Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump “horrific” and “incredibly disappointing,” adding that the current political culture is unlike anything he’s seen before.

“It’s a very difficult situation for the country right now,” Bonnar said. “And I’d like to say it culminated in what happened on Saturday, but I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, not right away. We’ve got a very difficult two or three months ahead of us.”

“I think the rhetoric on both sides has riled people up, and when you use the kind of language that the candidates are using, it’s very appealing to fringe groups.”

But Bonnar doubts that the decision’s impact will significantly influence voters as a whole.

“We’re left with two geriatric candidates,” Bonnar said. “And that’s a huge complaint from a lot of people.”

Credits: NATRICE MILLER

Credits: NATRICE MILLER

Some young voters say they still can’t wrap their heads around what happened. Tina Lu, 23, said she tends to vote Democratic in the election. She was surprised to learn how young the alleged shooter was.

“I think people can be very influenced by their emotions, especially young people,” she says.

Lu, too, believes that Saturday’s violence seemed inevitable given the campaign climate.

“It shows how terrible this current election year is, how bleak it looks, I think for everyone,” she said.

— Staff writer Dawn Sawyer contributed to this article.