On Sunday, President Joe Biden confirmed that he and former President Donald Trump had talked over the phone following the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania.
Biden shared that he and Trump spoke the night prior, saying, “I’m sincerely grateful that he’s doing well and recovering. We had a short but good conversation.”
Biden shared the news during his address to the nation on Sunday, adding that the FBI was leading the investigation into what happened.
He then went on to plead with Americans not to jump to conclusions before investigators could complete their work and find out what happened.
So far, the FBI has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. However, law enforcement is still working to determine a motive and how he was able to get into the position he did at the event.
“I urge everyone, everyone, please don’t make assumptions about his motive or his affiliations. Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job,” Biden said.
Biden also shared that he is directing the Secret Service to aid Trump in every way possible this week as he gets set to appear at the Republican National Convention.
“I’ve directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened, and we’ll share the results of that independent review to the American people, as well,” he said, adding that we “must unite as one nation.”
Later on Sunday, Biden delivered a series of remarks from the Oval Office, saying that Saturday’s shooting has forced Americans to “take a step back.”
“My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics,” Biden said. “Do remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We’re neighbors, we’re friends, coworkers, citizens, and most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together.”
While hyperbole may be a key part of politics, Biden said, “Politics must never be a literal battlefield. God forbid – a killing field.”
Biden said that while “disagreement is inevitable in American democracy” and human nature, what happened to the former president cannot be “normalized.”
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence, ever, period. No exceptions,” Biden said.
The shooting not only saw Trump struck in the ear but also claimed the life of another person and left two critically injured. Biden addressed this in his remarks, saying no one should be killed for “simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing.”
“We stand for an America not of extremism and fury but of decency and grace,” Biden said. “All of us now face a time of testing as [the] election approaches. The higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become.”
Trump has since landed in Wisconsin for this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, and Biden shared that he expects to be criticized, just like he will do on the campaign trail.
“I’ve no doubt they’ll criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country,” Biden said. “I’ll be traveling this week, making the case for our record and the vision, my vision, for the country, our vision. I’ll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box, [not] violence on our streets. That’s how democracy should work.”