US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have called for calm and unity after Trump survived an assassination attempt which took place at a campaign rally which was held in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Biden delivered a televised address from the Oval Office on Sunday, stating, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. 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.”
Trump was holding a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania—a crucial state in the upcoming 5 November election—when shots were fired, hitting his right ear and leaving his face bloodied. His campaign reported that he is doing well.
“That reality is just setting in,” Trump told the Washington Examiner on Sunday. “I rarely look away from the crowd. Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?”
One person in the crowd was killed and two others were wounded before Secret Service agents fatally shot the suspect.
Trump arrived on Sunday in Milwaukee, where he is set to be formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate later this week. This comes after surviving an assassination attempt that has further exacerbated the already bitter political divide in the United States.
Trump is scheduled to accept his party’s formal nomination at the Republican National Convention with a speech on Thursday. Upon arriving in Milwaukee, he pumped his fist in the air several times as he descended the stairs from his plane.
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” Trump told the Washington Examiner.
Biden has ordered a review into how a 20-year-old man with an AR-15-style rifle managed to get close enough to shoot at Trump from a rooftop on Saturday. As a former president, Trump, 78, is entitled to lifetime protection by the U.S. Secret Service.
Biden and Trump spoke to each other on Saturday night after the shooting. First Lady Jill Biden also spoke with former First Lady Melania Trump on Sunday afternoon, according to a White House official.
The shooting on Saturday has dramatically shifted the discussion around the campaign, which had previously focused on whether Biden, 81, should withdraw following a faltering debate performance on 27 June.
The FBI has stated that there are no known threats to the Republican convention, which begins on Monday, or to anyone attending. The Secret Service has also indicated that they do not anticipate any changes to the security plan.
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