Stressing that violence cannot be normalised in the United States, US President Joe Biden on Sunday (local time) said politics must never be a literal battlefield. Biden delivered a special address to the nation from the Oval Office a day after the assassination attempt on his Republican rival and former President Donald Trump– a step only taken at times of grave crisis.
Biden said Trump was attacked while exercising his freedom and urged Americans to cool down the political temperature in the country and also acknowledged the heated political mood in an election year but asserted that “we must never descend into violence”.
“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 normalised,” Biden said.
Join me as I address the nation from the Oval Office. https://t.co/0lbRNEt6OH
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 15, 2024
In his around five-minute-long address, Biden said America was founded on a democracy that gave reason and balances 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, fair play aren’t just quaint notions, they’re living, breathing realities,” he said.
Biden noted that passions were running high with the advancement of the US presidential election 2024 campaigns and said, “My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics…Politics must never be a literal battlefield, God forbid a killing field.”
“All of us now face the time of testing as the election approaches. The higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become…No matter how strong, our convictions must never descend into violence… It’s time to cool it down.” he added.
Biden noted that Republican Naitonal Convention was opening on Monday in Milwaukee, and he himself would be travelling the country for the Democrat campaign.
He said he had no doubts that the opposition party would “criticise my record and offer their own vision for the country” during the Republican National Convention event, and urged Americans not to accept any escalation in political violence as normal.
“We debate and disagree, we compare and contrast … but in America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box,” he added.
