‘Time to cool it down': Joe Biden on Donald Trump assassination attempt | Top quotes

US President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House hours after an assassination attempt against former US president Donald Trump on Saturday.

US President Joe Biden delivered a special address to the nation from the Oval Office in the White House on Sunday, a day after an assassination attempt on former American president Donald Trump at an election campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump was shot in the ear during the rally, and one bystander lost his life amid the assassination attempt against him.

US President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Sunday, July 14, 2024 (Bloomberg) (Bloomberg)

Joe Biden spoke for around five minutes at the Oval Office, saying that passions are running high as the campaigns for the US presidential election 2024 advances. He noted that the Republican Naitonal Convention was opening on Monday in Milwaukee, and he himself would be travelling the country for the Democrat campaign.

Donald Trump assassination attempt: Top quotes from Joe Biden

• On the assassination attempt against his political rival Donald Trump, US President Joe Biden said that “we cannot, we must not go down” the road of political violence in America.
• “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,” Biden said during his address.
• “My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics,” Biden said. The US President added, "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," Biden said. "No matter how strong, our convictions must never descend into violence... It's time to cool it down."
• Biden further said he had no doubts that the opposition party will “criticise my record and offer their own vision for the country” during the Republican National Convention event. He further urged all 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,” Biden said in his address.
• Earlier in the day, Biden called for the country to unite as one nation and called for a thorough review of the situation. He also asked the public not to “make assumptions” about the shooter's motives or affiliations.
• In his remarks, Biden called the attack on Trump “not who we are as a nation.” "It’s not American. And we cannot allow this to happen," he said. “Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than that right now."

(With inputs from AP)