Biden insists ‘we are not enemies’ as he addresses nation in brief Oval Office speech after Trump assassination attempt
President Biden urged the nation to unite in a rare Oval Office address on Sunday night – a day after a gunman tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
“My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember that while we may disagree, we are not enemies,” the 81-year-old president said.
“We are neighbors, we are friends, coworkers, citizens, and most importantly we are fellow Americans. We must stand together.”
Biden said that he was “grateful” that Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, survived with only a graze wound and hailed rally attendee Corey Comperatore, 50, who was fatally shot, as a “hero.”
The president used his nearly 7-minute address to call on viewers to “step back and take stock of where we are and how we go forward from here.”
“Thankfully, former Trump [sic] is not seriously injured. I spoke to him last night. I’m grateful he’s doing well and Jill and I keep him and his family in our prayers,” Biden said.
“We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed. 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.”
Comperatore, 50, served as the fire chief for nearby Buffalo Township.
Here’s the latest on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump:
Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks visited gun range dozens of times — including Christmas — for ‘intense preparation’- Newly surfaced texts show Trump rally gunman was on authorities’ radar more than 90 minutes before shooting: report
- FBI to conduct victim interview with Donald Trump after assassination attempt
- Ex-Trump doc says FBI’s Wray is ‘wrong’ to doubt ex-prez was struck by bullet: ‘Absolutely no evidence’
- Trump defends female Secret Service agent who was criticized after assassination attempt: ‘So brave’
Biden, who has taken heat from Republicans for calling on Democrats to put a metaphorical “bullseye” on Trump, 78, last Monday, called on the public to not rush to judgment about what motivated gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who was killed by the Secret Service.
“We do not know the motive of the shooter yet. We don’t know his opinions or affiliations. We don’t know if he had help or support or whether he communicated with anyone else. Law enforcement professionals as I speak are investigating those questions,” Biden said.
“Tonight, I want to speak to what we do know. A former president was shot, an American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. We cannot, we must not go down this road in America. We’ve traveled it before through our history.”
Biden associated the shooting with other incidents, including the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and the failed 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Violence has never been the answer, whether it’s been with members of both parties being targeted and shot, or a violent mob attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, or a brutal attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, or intimidation of election officials, or a kidnapping plot against a sitting governor or an attempted assassination on Donald Trump,” Biden said.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence ever, period, no exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to be normalized.”
Biden called on Americans to sort out their differences with “the ballot box, not with bullets.”
Everything we know about the Trump assassination attempt
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
- The gunman grazed Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old retired fire chief, and injured two other rally-goers.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he looked for the dates of Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention.
- Crooks’ search history also revealed a broad interest in high-profile people and celebrities, regardless of their political affiliation, FBI officials reportedly said.
- Trump exclusively recounted surviving the “surreal” assassination attempt with The Post at the rally, remarking, “I’m supposed to be dead.”
- High-profile politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it “a heinous, horrible and cowardly act.”
“All of us now face the time of testing as the election approaches. And the higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become,” Biden said.
“This places an added burden on each of us to ensure no matter how strong our convictions, it must never descend into violence.”
Biden also called on listeners to reach out to people of different viewpoints — while also warning against “misinformation,” a term the Biden White House has applied in the past to factual information or theories that later gained broad acceptance.
“Here in America we need to get out of our silos, where we only listen to those with whom we agree, where misinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fan the flames of our division to shape the outcomes consistent with their interests, not ours,” he said.
Ahead of the assassination attempt, Biden faced mounting calls to step aside following a disastrous June 27 debate performance against Trump, including from at least 20 House Democrats and one Democratic senator.
Biden has insisted he will continue his campaign for a second term, despite broad concerns about his cognitive fitness and the fact that he is trailing Trump in most national and swing-state polls.
