CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — The Chautauqua Institution Summer Lecture Series welcomed former Barack Obama cabinet member Julián Castro and former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to its stage Friday.
The topic was the future of humankind in a crowded world but with so much happening in the country lately, a lot of the focus was on current events.
"We've become, I think, as a community, a little less reflective than we should be, less sitting in the moment and thinking about the consequences and grappling with them because things move on so quickly," Castro said.
Both politicians urge the public and colleagues to tone down rhetoric after last weekend's attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's life. McCarthy pointed out extreme acts have happened to politicians on both ends of the political spectrum, noting the shootings of Congress members Gabby Giffords, Steve Scalise and the attack on former Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's husband.
He also revealed to the audience a man who had planned to murder his own son was sentenced this week.
"There's a lot of things that happen, threats to a lot of elected officials, people don't see and people don't know," McCarthy said.
He was just coming from the Republican National Convention, where the GOP officially made Donald Trump its nominee. Meanwhile, Castro spoke about the Democratic Party's turmoil in front of its own convention.
"I believe standing here today or sitting here today that probably President Biden will step aside," Castro said. "I think ultimately that the likely outcome of that is that Vice President Harris will be the nominee. I believe that she can be a very strong nominee."
He said he believes Biden has been one of the most effective presidents in decades but no longer believes he is the best candidate to defeat Trump in November.
As the campaign continues to claim Biden will move forward, Castro said the decision is up to the president and the party will need to rally around whoever ultimately runs.
"Prevent what I see as a danger to democracy and a candidate in Donald Trump that has these authoritarian tendencies that would not be good for the country," he said.
McCarthy meanwhile argues Democrats cannot claim to be protecting democracy if they in fact change their candidate after primary voters chose Biden.
"This discussion should've taken place a year ago, and had the Democrats had debates they would have realized Joe Biden is not the same Joe Biden, and they would've voted for someone else and Democracy would've worked," McCarthy said.
The former speaker said he does not believe Biden will pull out of the race but has noticed more pressure coming from Democratic party leadership recently. He believes Biden will make the decision in the next several days.