United States President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger Donald Trump have called on Americans to put aside political divisions and come together after Trump narrowly survived an attempted assassination. In a six-and-a-half-minute address from the Oval Office on Sunday night, Biden emphasized that political violence should never be normalized and urged all Americans to exercise restraint in their political rhetoric. He stressed that disagreements should be settled through the democratic process of voting, rather than resorting to violence.
Biden’s primetime address came in the wake of the first attempted assassination of a current or former president since the shooting of Ronald Reagan in 1981. Trump was left with a bloodied face after a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief, tragically lost his life in the attack, while several others were injured. The suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by authorities shortly after the incident. The FBI is currently investigating Crooks’ motives and has not identified any association with a particular ideology.
The attempted assassination has significantly reshaped the acrimonious race between Biden and Trump, diverting attention from previous discussions about Biden’s age and fitness following a contentious debate performance. In response to the attack, Biden temporarily suspended television advertisements and political messaging. He also had a phone conversation with Trump, expressing his condolences and offering prayers for the former president and his family.
Meanwhile, Trump arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ahead of the Republican National Convention, where he is set to be formally named the party’s nominee later this week. Trump stated that his convention speech would be different from his original plan, emphasizing the need to bring the country together. He also asserted that he would not allow the attempted assassination to disrupt his schedule, stating that he could not let “evil win.”
Following the incident, some prominent Trump allies, including JD Vance, accused the Biden campaign of creating an environment conducive to violence. Vance claimed that the rhetoric used by the Biden campaign portrayed Trump as an “authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” directly leading to the attempted assassination.
