Joe Biden address US, says need for us to lower temperature in politics

A day after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, US President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office emphasising the need “to lower the temperature” in politics and that the country cannot allow political violence to become normalised.

In his address to the nation, Biden said, “I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, when we disagree, we are not enemies, we are neighbours, we are friends, co-workers, citizens and, most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together,” he said.

“Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here,” he added.

Trump’s shooting “calls on all of us to take a step back,” Biden said in remarks of less than seven minutes. Thankfully, Trump was not seriously injured, he said.

“We can’t allow this violence to be normalised. The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down,” he said. “We all have a responsibility to do this.”

Earlier in the day, Biden also condemned the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and said that the attack was “contrary to everything that the country stands for” and that there is no place for violence of any kind in the country.

The attack on Donald Trump took place when he was addressing a rally in Pennsylvania. The suspected shooter fired multiple shots before being neutralised by Secret Service agents.

Following the assassination attempt on former US President, Biden has ordered an independent review of national security at the Pennsylvania rally to “assess exactly what happened.”

Biden has also directed the Secret Service to review all security measures in place for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week. Trump will be formally nominated as the party’s presidential candidate at the convention and will face Biden in the November 5 election.