“We resolve our differences at the ballot box” -Joe Biden calls for calm after Trump shooting
Joe Biden, US President strongly criticized the attempted assassination of his predecessor, Donald Trump, during a televised address from the White House. He told Americans that politics should never be a ‘’killing field’’
Trump’s supporters have swiftly accused President Biden and his campaign of orchestrating the attack, claiming that the Democrat aimed to instil fear regarding his opponent’s potential return to power.
During his televised speech, the president urged Americans to unite and cautioned that escalating political differences would make the upcoming election in November a critical moment of evaluation.
“We cannot, must not, go down this road again. We’ve travelled it before in our history,” he said, citing shootings targeting congressional members in both parties, the assault on ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband and the 6th of January riots.
“In America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box,” he said. “At the ballot box. Not with bullets.”
Trump’s assassination attempt
Former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination during a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The presidential candidate of the Republican Party, after leaving the hospital, described hearing a “whizzing sound” and feeling a “bullet ripping through skin” as he addressed a crowd of supporters at his rally on Saturday, July 15.
According to Secret Service reports, a male attacker opened fire during the rally, striking Trump in the ear. The quick response of a Secret Service agent resulted in the attacker being shot and killed on the scene.
During his speech, Mr Biden expressed his condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former firefighter who tragically lost his life during the rally. Comperatore was fatally shot while shielding his family from gunfire that targeted Trump and others in attendance, leaving two others critically injured. Biden praised Comperatore as a hero who died while peacefully exercising his right to support a candidate of his preference.
President Biden did not respond to those criticisms in his Sunday night address, but his campaign temporarily suspended attack ads against Trump.
Biden has sought to strike a conciliatory tone since the shooting, thanking his Secret Service detail for their quick actions and calling on citizens to “stand united” and to “show our True Character as Americans”.
