The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has appealed to the American people to “cool” the political climate and not turn it into a battlefield, claiming that “everyone” has “the responsibility to do so”, after the assassination attempt this weekend against his predecessor, Donald Trump, who was slightly injured.
“In America we resolve our differences at the ballot box. That’s how we do it. Not with bullets. The power to change America should always be in the hands of the people, not a would-be killer. The path forward through of opposing campaign visions must be resolved peacefully, not through acts of violence,” he declared.
Biden has asserted that “hate should have no place to shelter”, so he has urged to leave those places where “we agree, where misinformation is uncontrollable, where foreign actors fan the flames” of division “to shape coherent results” with each one’s vision.
“A former president has been shot and an American citizen has died while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choice. We cannot, we must not, go down this path in the United States. Violence has never been the answer. (… .) Without exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to become normal,” he said.
Given this situation, he recalled other acts of political violence recently experienced in the North American country, such as the assault on the Capitol (January 6, 2021) or the hammer attack against Paul Pelosi, husband of the former president of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. (October 28, 2022). He has also mentioned attacks against members of Congress and of both parties, intimidation of electoral officials or kidnapping plots against authorities.
For this reason, the president has addressed the American people in a speech from the Oval Office to ask them to commit to respect and unity in the face of “deep disagreements.” “Nothing is more important to us than staying together,” he said, although he emphasized that the upcoming election “will shape the future of the United States and the world for decades to come.” In this sense, he has advocated for “decency, dignity and fair play” as “living, breathing realities.”
Biden has considered that they face a moment of “test as the elections approach”, since “the higher the stakes, the more fervent passions become.” “This places an additional burden on each of us to ensure that, no matter how strong our convictions, we never descend into violence,” he claimed.
While he has given this speech, Trump has arrived in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) to participate in the Republican National Convention, which begins this Monday and in which his candidacy for the White House will be certified. “I have no doubt that they will criticize my mandate and offer their own vision,” he acknowledged, before pointing out that while he will be defending his work, democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law.
“This is how democracy should work. We debate and we disagree. We compare and contrast the character of the candidates, the background, the issues, the agenda, the vision of the United States,” he concluded.
The attack, in which Trump was slightly injured in his right ear after the bullet grazed it, resulted in the death of one supporter and two other injuries, who have been hospitalized. The attacker, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead seconds later by a Secret Service sniper on the roof from which he fired the shots.
