Addressing the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night, President Biden said the assassination attempt on former President Trump has forced Americans to “take a step back” and called on all sides to “de-escalate the political situation.”
“My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about the need to de-escalate political tensions,” Biden said. “We may disagree, but we are not enemies. We are neighbors, friends, colleagues, fellow citizens, and above all, we are fellow Americans. And we must come together.”
The assassination attempt on Trump “calls on all of us to take a step back and reflect on where we are,” he added.
President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office about the attempted assassination of former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times, Pool via The Associated Press)
Biden said he was “grateful” that Trump was “in good spirits” and that he was “praying for him and his family.” He also offered his “deepest condolences” to the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed while trying to shield his wife and daughters from bullets.
Biden vows Secret Service will provide 'all resources' to ensure Trump's 'continued security'
The president linked several recent incidents of political violence to attacks on President Trump, including the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol, the attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, the attempted kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, and “threats against election officials.”
“There is no room for this kind of violence, or any violence, in America. There are no exceptions,” Biden said.
Trump claims he was 'shot by a bullet' in assassination attempt at Pennsylvania rally
The president stressed that “differences are inevitable in our democracy” and “part of human nature,” but incidents like Saturday's shooting cannot be “normalized.”
“Politics should never be a literal battlefield,” Biden said, “but by God, it should never be a killing field.”
President Biden speaks from the Oval Office the day after a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican candidate Donald Trump at the White House on July 14, 2024, in which Trump was injured. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
Trump was hit by multiple gunshots fired at the stage from an elevated location near an outdoor venue where he was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The bullets penetrated the top of Trump's right ear, and he was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents.
The would-be assassin was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, and was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper shortly after the shots were fired.
However, Crooks killed one of the spectators, Comperatore, a former fire chief from Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania.
Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump is assisted by security personnel after shots rang out during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDiarmid)
Two other people were seriously injured in the attack, which authorities said is being investigated by the FBI as an assassination attempt.
“Tonight, I want to talk about what we know: a former president shot and killed simply for exercising the American people's freedom to support the candidate of their choice,” Biden continued. “We cannot and must not go down this path in America.”
Biden said politics should be “a forum for peaceful debate in which justice is pursued and decisions are guided by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”
“We stand for an America of civility and tolerance, not an America of extremism and rage,” Biden said. “We all face trying times right now. [the] The election is approaching, and the higher the stakes, the hotter the passions.”
Biden noted that the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday.
“I have no doubt they will criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country,” Biden said. “I'm on the road this week to advocate for our record and my vision, my vision, my vision for this country. I will continue to make a strong case for our democracy, to defend our Constitution and the rule of law, and to call for action at the ballot box.” [not] Violence in the streets. This is how democracy should be.”
Biden said the parties needed to “resolve their differences at the ballot box” and called on Americans to “step out of our silos.”
Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Let's not forget that unity is the hardest goal of all to achieve right now in America,” he said. “Nothing is more important to us right now than unity. We can get this done.”
Biden urged Americans to “never lose sight of who you are.”
The Oval Office speech was Biden's second time speaking about Sunday's assassination attempt on Trump. Earlier in the day, Biden said he had spoken to Trump on Saturday night and that the two rivals had a “brief but meaningful conversation.”
Biden, speaking in the afternoon from the Roosevelt Room at the White House, vowed to ensure the Secret Service provides Trump with “all the resources, capabilities and safeguards he needs to continue to ensure his security.”
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“I have directed the Director of the Secret Service to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow,” Biden said.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump reacts after suffering a gunshot wound during a campaign rally. (REUTERS/Brendan McDiarmid)
“I am conducting an independent investigation into the security of yesterday's rally to assess exactly what happened, and I will share the findings of that independent investigation with the American people,” Biden said.
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The Biden campaign announced Saturday night that it was suspending all external communications and pulling campaign ads targeting Trump. The campaign is in the midst of a $50 million advertising offensive this month that has seen it run ads in every key battleground state.
Brooke Singman is a political reporter and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.