President Joe Biden spoke to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday evening — his second address of the day on the failed assassination attempt on former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — and asked Americans to cool down the political rhetoric.
In asking Americans “to lower the temperature in our politics,” the president also reinforced the stakes of the upcoming election.
“You know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down,” the president said. “And we all have a responsibility to do that. Yes, we have deeply felt, strong disagreements. The stakes in this election are enormously high. I’ve said it many times that the choice we make in this election is going to shape the future of America and the world for decades to come. I believe that with all my soul. I know that many of my fellow Americans believe it as well. And some have a different view as to the direction our country should take. Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy. It’s part of human nature. But politics must never be a literal battlefield, or God forbid, a killing field.”
Trump was fired at during a campaign rally on Saturday in Butler County, Pennsylvania. An attendee, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, was killed while shielding his wife and daughter from bullets.
“A former president was shot. An American citizen was killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. We cannot, we must not go down this road in America.”
Biden also:
- Began by saying, “And remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We’re neighbors. We’re friends, co-workers, citizens. And most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together.”
- Reemphasized that the investigation into the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was ongoing and his motive is unknown. “We don’t know his opinions or affiliations,” Biden said.
- Extended his “deepest condolences” to Comperatore’s family. “Corey was a husband, a father, a volunteer firefighter, a hero, sheltering his family from those bullets. We should all hold his family and all those injured in our prayers,” he said.
- Said “violence has never been the answer” and listed several examples, including the events of Jan. 6, the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game practice shooting and the attack on Paul Pelosi, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
“The power to change America should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin,” Biden said.
Trump’s response to the shooting
Earlier Sunday, the former president had issued a call for unity via his TruthSocial account, saying “in this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win.”
The statement also read: “We will fear not, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”
A statement from former first lady Melania Trump followed.
“Dawn is here again,” she wrote. “Let us reunite. Now. This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back.”
President Biden’s remarks from earlier
The president spoke early Sunday afternoon at the White House in Washington, D.C., where he:
- Said he has “directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened and will share the results of that independent review of the American people as well.”
- Said that he spoke with former President Trump and said that he and first lady Jill Biden “are keeping him and his family in our prayers.”
- Called on Americans to not “make assumptions about (the shooter’s) motives or his affiliations.”
- Ended with a plea to “unite as one nation.”
More from Sunday
- During his brief remarks with Vice President Kamala Harris by his side early Sunday afternoon, the president said he was “sincerely grateful that (Trump is) doing well and recovering. We had a short but good conversation. Jill and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers.”
- During his evening address, the president referenced the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee. “The Republican convention will start tomorrow,” he said. “I have no doubt they’ll criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country. I’ll be traveling this week making the case for our record and my vision for the country, our vision. I’ll continue to speak out strong for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box. No violence on our streets. That’s how democracy should work.”
- The president has rescheduled his planned trip to Austin, Texas, this week.