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“Politics should never be a battlefield”: Biden addresses the nation after Trump attack | US News

President Joe Biden stressed in his speech to the nation that divided Americans must come together after Donald Trump was shot in an assassination attempt.

Mr Biden said in a televised address from the Oval Office: “Politics should never be a political battlefield or, God forbid, a killing field.”

“We need to lower the temperature in our politics,” he added.

Former President Trump cardThe 78-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the ear in the shooting, which occurred early Saturday evening as he gave a speech to his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 50 kilometers north of Pittsburgh.

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How Trump’s attack impacted – all perspectives

“There is no place for this kind of violence in America, for any kind of violence. Period. No exceptions,” Biden said in his speech.

“We cannot allow this violence to become normal. The political rhetoric of this country has become very heated. It is time to cool it down.”

President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 14, 2024, about the attempted assassination of Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
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Image: AP

He said emotions were running high on both sides and that there was a lot at stake in the election.

“We can do this,” Biden pleaded, saying the nation 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.”

Biden’s call for unity could be difficult to implement in the desperate race for the White House

They save the Oval Office speech for serious times – typically for conflicts.

For both reasons – the seriousness and the conflict – a prime-time appearance by the President seemed appropriate.

This was a presentation by Joe Biden on the seriousness of the current situation, in which he alerted the American public to the policy of attrition.

Expressions such as “political battlefield” and “killing field” represented a stark warning; the choice of words was deliberately drastic and forceful.

Read the rest of James’ analysis

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The Republican Party Convention begins in Milwaukee on Monday, and Donald Trump’s plane was spotted landing for the four-day event on Sunday.

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The former president said in a social media post that he would postpone his trip by two days because of the assassination attempt, “but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter’ or potential assassin to force changes to the schedule or anything else.”