US President Biden warns Americans about election year rhetoric, says Trump was attacked while ‘exercising his freedom’

US President Joe Biden stressed on Sunday (local time) that violence cannot be normalized in the United States and said politics should never be a literal battlefield. A day after the assassination attempt on his Republican rival and former President Donald Trump, Biden delivered a special address to the nation from the Oval Office – a step he only takes in times of serious crises.

Biden said Trump was attacked while exercising his freedom and urged Americans to cool the political temperature in the country. He also acknowledged the heated political mood in an election year, but stressed: “We must never descend into violence.”

“There is no place for this kind of violence in America – for violence of any kind. Ever. Period. No exceptions. We cannot allow this violence to be normalized,” Biden said.

In his roughly five-minute speech, Biden said America was founded on a democracy that gives reason and balance a chance to prevail over brute force. “American democracy – where arguments are made in good faith. American democracy – where the rule of law is respected. Where decency, dignity and fair play are not just fancy words, but living realities,” he said.

Noting that tempers are running high as the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign moves forward, Biden said: “My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need to cool the temperature in our politics… Politics must never be a literal battlefield, God forbid, a battlefield.”

“With the election approaching, we are all facing a difficult test. The more the stakes are, the more intense passions become… No matter how strong our convictions are, they must never turn into violence… It is time to calm down,” he added.

Biden pointed out that the Republican National Convention will open in Milwaukee on Monday and that he himself will travel around the country for the Democratic campaign.

He said he had no doubt that the opposition party would “criticize my record and lay out its own vision for the country” during the Republican convention and urged Americans not to accept an escalation of political violence as normal.

“We debate and disagree, we compare and contrast… but in America we resolve our differences at the ballot box,” he added.