In an Oval Office Address the evening after his election rival Donald Trump survived what law enforcement called an assassination attempt, President Joe Biden condemned political violence and urged Americans to "lower the temperature in our politics."
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents as he was campaigning at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 after shots were fired.
Agents surrounded Trump and escorted him into his motorcade after a series of popping sounds later confirmed by law enforcement to be gunshots rang out. Blood was visible on Trump's face and ear as he paused to pump his fist at supporters before he was escorted off stage. Law enforcement officials later said the incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt. They identified the shooter as a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, but said any possible motive was still under investigation.
Biden delivered remarks on July 13 after the shooting, expressing his gratitude that Trump was doing well after the attack and for the law enforcement officials who responded. In an Oval Office address on July 14, Biden also expressed his condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, a rally attendee who was killed in the shooting.
Biden called Comperatore a "hero" who reportedly shielded his family as shots rang out.
"A former president was shot and an American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing," Biden said. "We can not, we must not, go down this road in America."
Biden said that despite differences of opinion in politics, a democracy should resolve its differences at the ballot box, not with bullets.
"There's no place in America for this kind of violence for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions," Biden said. "We can't allow this violence to be normalized. You know, the political correctness country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down. We all have the responsibility to do that."
Other former presidents, lawmakers, and faith leaders also issued statements condemning political violence after the shooting.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement, "Together with my brother bishops, we condemn political violence, and we offer our prayers for President Trump, and those who were killed or injured."
"We also pray for our country and for an end to political violence, which is never a solution to political disagreements," he said. "We ask all people of goodwill to join us in praying for peace in our country. Mary, Mother of God and Patroness of the Americas, pray for us."
The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin July 15. Trump wrote in a post on social media that he planned to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as scheduled because he "cannot allow a 'shooter,' or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else."
Catholic News Service reported that on July 14, the Vatican press office released a statement expressing "concern about last night's episode of violence, which wounds people and democracy, causing suffering and death," and adding the Holy See is "united in the prayer of the U.S. bishops for America, for the victims, and for peace in the country, so that the motives of the violent may never prevail."
