Biden Oval Office Address Calls for Unity After Trump Rally Shooting

President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Sunday night, following what the FBI is calling an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the former president and presumptive GOP presidential nominee, at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

“I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics. And to remember, [while we] may disagree, we are not enemies, we’re neighbors, we’re friends, coworkers, citizens, and most importantly, we’re fellow Americans. We must stand together.

“Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump‘s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here,” Biden said in his second speech of the day addressing the incident, expressing his condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed during the shooting. He also addressed the escalating violence that preceded Saturday’s events.

“Throughout our history, violence has never been the answer, whether it’s with members of Congress in both parties being targeted… or a violent mob attacking the Capitol on January 6, or brutal attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, or information and intimidation on election officials, or the kidnapping plot against the city governor, or attempted assassination on Donald Trump. There’s no place in America this kind of violence, for any violence, ever, period, no exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.”

He discussed how “heated” the political conversation has become in the U.S. and acknowledged, “The stakes in this election are enormously high. I 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.”

Noting that there is disagreement and that it’s “inevitable in American democracy,” Biden emphasized, “Politics must never be a literal battlefield, or God forbid, a killing field.” And while there is debate over issues, candidates, records, and more, the differences should be resolved at the ballot box.

“Let’s remember, here in America, our unity is the most elusive of all goals right now, nothing is more important for us now than standing together,” he said.

Earlier on Sunday, Biden stressed the importance of unity and announced his call for an independent review of security procedures at the rally where the shooting took place.

The speech was meant to unify a deeply divided country with an ever-widening and contentious gap that appears to extend beyond party lines. Chaos and rhetoric have often ruled over common ground and common sense as the election approaches, and now with Saturday’s violent act, increased tension and concern is rising ahead of the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention.

On Saturday, Trump was about 10 minutes into delivering a rally speech in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, when shots rang out. Trump was rushed offstage by Secret Service, who said he was “safe” following the incident. “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday.

Trump was injured in a shooting by Thomas Matthew Cooks, who killed one attendee and critically injured two others on Saturday, the FBI said. Trump said he would still head to Milwaukee on Sunday, the day before the kickoff of the Republican National Convention, where he’s expected to be formally nominated as the presidential candidate for the GOP.  

The RNC takes place at Fiserv Forum July 15-18, with some events also being held at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the Baird Center. Trump is expected to name his vice presidential running mate early on during the convention. The former reality TV star likened a dramatic reveal of the decision to his old show: “It’s like a highly sophisticated version of The Apprentice if you think about it,” he told The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show on Friday.

Among the VP names being floated are Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

Meanwhile, the DNC will be held in Chicago Aug. 19-22. Prior to the shooting incident, the party had been in a freefall over concerns about whether Biden should step down as the nominee following a disastrous debate performance last month. Despite Biden’s insistence that he would not bow out, a host of Democratic lawmakers, celebrities, donors, and media personalities have called for him to drop out of the race. However, following the shooting incident on Saturday, the party appears to have put that issue on hold.