WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday urged Americans to reject political violence and recommit themselves to resolving their differences peacefully, saying the upcoming presidential election will be a “time of testing” in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
In a prime-time national address from the Oval Office, Biden said political passions can run high but “we must never descend into violence.” The president said his party and the Republicans can compete forcefully over different policy visions — but must do it in a civil fashion.
“All of us now face a time of testing as the election approaches,” Biden said. “There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.”
Biden spoke for six minutes in his third address to the nation since Saturday evening’s attack by a shooter that left Trump with a bloodied ear, killed one rally-goer and seriously injured two others. His warning came hours after FBI Deputy Director Paul Abate said agents have seen increasingly violent rhetoric online since the attack at the Trump rally.
Since the shooting, the president and his team had been grappling with how to calibrate the political path forward after the weekend attack targeting the very person Biden is trying to defeat in November’s election. Biden sharply condemned the attack, but indicated he plans to continue to press his campaign agenda and has “no doubt” Republicans will do the same when they open the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday.