Lagatar24 Desk
Washington, D.C.: US President Joe Biden issued a call for national unity a day after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. In a rare address from the Oval Office on Sunday, Biden urged Americans to de-escalate hostile political rhetoric and remember that despite disagreements, they are not enemies but compatriots.
“I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, when we disagree, we are not enemies, we are neighbors, we are friends, co-workers, citizens, and most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together,” Biden said.
Biden emphasized that politics should never become a literal battlefield, let alone a killing field.
The 78-year-old Trump, whose candidacy for the upcoming presidential election is nearly confirmed, was injured when a bullet grazed his ear during a rally in Pennsylvania. Tragically, a bystander was killed in the incident. The assailant, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a registered Republican, was fatally shot on the scene.
In the aftermath, Trump also called for unity, urging Americans not to let “evil win.” He credited divine intervention for preventing a worse outcome, stating on social media, “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
Addressing the nation from behind the historic Resolute Desk, Biden called for a “cool down” in the country’s political climate.
“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, and determine how we go forward from here. Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important right now—unity,” Biden said.
The 81-year-old Democrat emphasized that both political parties have a responsibility to ease tensions. “We debate and disagree, we compare and contrast…but in America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Biden condemned the shooting in an online post, stating that there is no place for violence in America. He also mentioned having a “short but good conversation” with Trump following the attack.
“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen,” Biden reiterated.
