In a televised address on Sunday evening, President Joe Biden emphasized the need to reduce the intense political rhetoric in the country. Speaking from the Oval Office at the White House, Biden condemned the recent violent incident at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a former President was targeted.
He stressed that violence should never be tolerated or normalized in America, especially during such a crucial election period. Biden urged the public to refrain from resorting to violence, regardless of the strength of their beliefs.
In a brief remark earlier in the day, Biden said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is leading the shooting investigation, which is still “in its early stages.”
“We don’t yet have any information about the motive of the shooter. We know who he is,” said Biden. He also urged Americans not to make any assumption about the motives or affiliations of the shooter.
Biden also noted that he has directed an independent review of the national security at Saturday’s Trump rally to assess exactly what happened. The U.S. Secret Service is facing scrutiny after a 20-year-old man, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure the former president.
Trump, who was shot in the right ear, arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Sunday afternoon, where he is expected to be officially nominated as the Republican presidential candidate later this week.
“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and the Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Earlier in the day, Trump urged Americans in another post to stand united and not allow evil to win.
Crooks was a registered Republican but had also given 15 U.S. dollars to a progressive group on Biden’s Inauguration Day, more than three years ago, The New York Times reported.
The New York Times said that the shooting came at a time when the United States was so polarized that 47 percent of Americans considered a second civil war likely or very likely in their lifetime.