Biden calls for Americans to renounce violence
In a rare address to the nation, US-President Biden warns Americans about heated atmosphere in US election campaign. After shooting at his rival Trump, it's important to cool things down. He also reminded the Democrats of the Capitol storm as a warning.
After the attempted assassination attempt on Donald Trump, US-President Joe Biden called on his fellow Americans for moderation in political disputes. "My American friends, I want to speak to you tonight about the need to lower the temperature in our political life," Biden said in a televised address from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Sunday (local time). Politics should "never be a battlefield."
Trump, the former US president and Republican Party's designated presidential candidate, survived an assassination attempt by a hair's breadth at a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania on Saturday. He was shot and slightly injured in the ear. Besides the alleged shooter, a bystander was killed, and two others were seriously injured.
"We all stand before a time of testing as the election approaches," Biden said in his speech. "No matter how strong they may be: Our convictions should never turn to violence." The political debate in the US has become "very heated," Biden warned, adding that "it's time to cool it down" with a look towards the conflicts in the highly polarized campaign. Biden and Trump will face off in the presidential election on November 5.
Reference to Capitol storm
America cannot and should not go down the path of violence again, Biden said, referring to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Supporters of Trump attempted to prevent the official certification of Biden's election victory violently. "Tonight, I ask every American to reaffirm: Hate must have no safe harbor." Biden's campaign suspended verbal attacks on Trump within hours of the shooting and withdrew television ads.
Biden has spoken out several times since the shooting at Trump's campaign rally in Butler. Before his Oval Office address on Sunday, he had already given a short statement at the White House, calling for unity among the nation. "We must come together as a nation to show who we are," he said then. Shortly after the attempted assassination attempt on Trump, Biden had declared that "there's no place for this kind of violence in America." Actions like the shooting at the Butler campaign rally were "sick."
"Battle" instead of "ballot box"
Trump is expected to be officially nominated as the Republican Party's presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee starting on Monday. The right-wing populist will then face Biden on November 5, whom he narrowly lost to in the 2020 election.
In the polls, Trump has recently been able to build up his lead over Biden. The 81-year-old incumbent has been confronted with significant doubts about his mental and physical fitness since his disastrous TV debate performance against Trump last month.
Biden delivered his short but powerful speech in the Oval Office without major hiccups. However, he mistakenly replaced the English word "ballot box," meaning ballot box, with "battle" twice in the phrase.
Following the alarming assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden urged unity and moderation in political discourse, stating, "We must lower the temperature in our political life, my American friends." Referencing the Capitol storm in 2021, Biden emphasized, "America cannot and should not go down the path of violence again."
