Joe Biden made a plea for political violence to end — and for passions to cool — in a rare Oval Office address following the attempted assassination of his rival, Donald Trump.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any kind of violence, ever, period,” Biden said. “No exceptions. We cannot allow this kind of violence to be normalized.”
He added, “The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It is time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that.”
Biden, though, did not back away from framing the election as an inflection point for the country, saying that he would continue “to speak out strongly for our democracy.”
“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 millions of my fellow Americans believe it as well.”
He added, “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 … battlefield, or God forbid, a killing field.”
The president also spoke of what is to come, saying that “the higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become. This places an added burden on each of us to ensure that no matter how strong our convictions, let us never descend into violence.”
“The Republican convention will start tomorrow. I have no doubt they will criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country. I’ll be travelling this week making the case for our record, and the vision, my vision for the country. Our vision.”
Authorities have not identified a motive for the shooting. The assailant, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by counter snipers after he opened fire on the rally from a nearby rooftop.
Biden urged Americans to keep Trump and his family “in our prayers,” and he paid tribute to one rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, who was killed.
“A former president was shot, an American citizen killed, simply for exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. We cannot, we must not, go down this road.”
More to come.