In a prime-time address to the nation from the Oval Office, Biden said political passions can run high but “we must not descend into violence.”
“America will not tolerate this kind of violence – any violence. Ever. Period. No exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to be normalized,” Biden said.
Biden spoke for about five minutes in the Oval Office. He pointed out that the Republican National Convention will open in Milwaukee on Monday, and he himself will travel across the country to campaign for re-election.
He said enthusiasm would be high on both sides and the stakes in the election were huge.
“We can do this,” Biden pleaded, saying the country was founded on democracy, giving reason and balance a chance to triumph over violence. “American democracy—arguments presented in good faith. American democracy—the rule of law respected. Decency, dignity, fair play are not just quaint concepts, they are living realities.
Earlier on Sunday, Biden condemned the assassination attempt on his predecessor Trump, calling it “antithetical to everything we stand for as a country” and said he was ordering an independent security review into how such an attack could have occurred.
He called for “unity” across the country, promised a “thorough and swift” review and asked the public not to “make assumptions” about the shooter’s motives or affiliations.
The president said he also directed the U.S. Secret Service to review all security measures at the Republican National Committee. Hours later, Secret Service convention coordinator Audrey Gibson-Cicchino said the weekend attacks on Trump had not prompted any changes to the agency’s security plans for the event, officials We are “fully prepared”.
In his speech, Biden said that attacks on Trump “are not the essence of our country.”
“This is not American. We cannot allow this to happen,” he said. “Unity is the most elusive goal, but nothing is more important now.”
The president said he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the family of former fire chief Corey Comperatore, who held a special ceremony in Butler, Pa., on Saturday night. Trump was shot dead at a rally.
“He’s protecting his family from bullets,” Biden said. “God loves him.”
The president also said he had a “brief but good conversation” with Trump in the hours after the shooting and said he was “sincerely grateful” that the former president was “doing well and recovering.”
Trump, who has called for the country to revitalize since the shooting, posted on his social media account after Biden’s remarks: “Unite America!”
Actually achieving unity will be more challenging, especially during a heated presidential campaign. Biden’s team is grappling with how to adjust its path forward as the man he is trying to defeat in the November election came under attack over the weekend.
Biden, who once viewed Trump as a serious threat to democracy and the founding principles, has temporarily halted such political messaging. Shortly after Saturday night’s attack, Biden’s reelection campaign froze “all external communications” and was working to pull television ads.
The president also postponed a planned trip to Texas on Monday, where he was scheduled to address the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. The NBC News interview between Biden and anchor Lester Holt will now take place at the White House rather than in Texas as originally planned.
Biden’s campaign said after the NBC interview aired Monday night that they and the Democratic National Committee would “continue to draw sharp contrasts with Trump” during the Republican National Convention – although it was unclear when advertising would resume.
Biden also plans to travel to Las Vegas as planned, including a campaign event on Wednesday. Vice President Kamala Harris postponed a campaign trip to Florida on Tuesday, where she was scheduled to meet with Republican women.
Meanwhile, Trump announced he was moving forward with plans to travel to Milwaukee and the Republican National Convention, where criticism of Biden and Democrats is sure to be fierce.
The weekend’s developments were just the latest upheaval in a campaign that has been extraordinarily chaotic in recent weeks.
Biden’s erratic debate performance on June 27 so alarmed his party that some top surrogates and donors began attacking him, and nearly two dozen Democratic members of Congress called on the president to drop out of the race altogether. Facing mounting questions about his fitness for re-election, Biden and his top advisers have been trying to salvage his campaign by increasing events across the country and criticizing Trump more aggressively.
Saturday’s attack upended a counteroffensive in the run-up to the Republican National Convention — at least for now.
The campaign also hopes Sunday’s Oval Office speech will allow Biden to further clarify his views on unity while demonstrating leadership to assuage nervous critics within the party.
“We’ll debate, we’ll disagree, and that’s not going to change,” Biden said in his afternoon speech. “But we won’t forget who we are as Americans.”
While investigators are still in the early stages of determining what happened and why, some Biden critics called on the president to tell donors in a private call on Monday that “it’s time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye.”
A person familiar with the comments said the president was trying to show that Trump had no public agenda after last month’s debate, while the president himself faces intense scrutiny. The person requested anonymity to discuss private conversations more freely.
During a donor call, Biden said: “I have a job, and that is to defeat Donald Trump. … I’m absolutely certain that I’m the best person to do that.
He continued: “So, we’re done with this debate. It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye. He’s done nothing but drive around in a golf cart bragging about his scoreless performance for the past ten days. Doing it and getting away with it…I wouldn’t be a part of his golf game anyway.
