President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday, urging calm after an assassination attempt on his political rival, Donald Trump. The attack occurred at a rally in Pennsylvania, leaving Trump bloodied but alive.
“The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down,” Biden said in his televised speech, emphasizing that American politics “must never be a literal battlefield.”
As images of a bloodied Trump waving his fist after the gunman opened fire circulated, Biden stressed the need for both sides to de-escalate tensions ahead of the polarized election, calling this period a “time of testing” for the nation.
The speech, marred only by Biden twice referring to the ballot box as a “battle box,” came after a poor debate performance against Trump. Biden’s call for calm comes as investigators continue to probe the motives of 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot dead by snipers at the event.
Trump responded on social media, urging Americans not to let “evil win” and crediting “God alone” for saving him. His wife, Melania, called the shooter a “monster.”
Despite being hit in the ear, Trump managed to raise a defiant fist to the crowd as he was escorted away by Secret Service agents. He later arrived in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, where he is set to be confirmed as the party’s presidential nominee.
The US Secret Service assured that security at the convention would be maintained, despite questions about how the shooter managed to fire from a rooftop 150 meters away from Trump.
Investigators are treating the incident as both an assassination attempt and a potential act of domestic terrorism. The AR-style 556 rifle used was believed to be bought by Crooks’ father, but it remains unclear how Crooks accessed it.
In the aftermath, Biden praised the bystander who was killed, firefighter Corey Comperatore, for protecting his family during the attack. The incident has shocked the nation and added further uncertainty to an already tense presidential race.
