In a Sunday night Oval Office address to the nation, President Joe Biden called on Americans to come together and “lower the temperature in our politics,” a day after a man shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“While we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden said in his televised address. “We’re neighbours. We’re friends, co-workers, citizens. Most importantly, we’re fellow Americans. We must stand together.”
The president ticked off cases of politically motivated violence in recent years, including members of Congress being the targets of an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021; the attack on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California); and the kidnapping plot in 2020 against Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
And of course, he said, the attempted assassination of Trump.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions,” he said. “We can’t allow this violence to be normalised.”
The president said Saturday’s shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania “calls on all of us to take a step back” and think about “how we go forward from here.”
Biden noted that he called Trump on Saturday night and is “grateful” he is doing well. He also offered his condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed at the rally while sheltering his family from the bullets.
“We should all hold his family, all those injured, in our prayers,” he said.
The president said law enforcement officials still don’t know the motive of the now-deceased shooter, who was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Law enforcement is still investigating Crooks’ opinions and affiliations, he said, and whether he had support in his plans for the rally.
He reiterated that Americans “cannot, must not” turn to violence in politics.
“Here in America, our unity is the most elusive of goals right now,” Biden said. “Nothing is more important for us now than standing together. We can do this.”