To the editor:
I have addressed the American people about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics.
We must remember that, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We are neighbors, friends, co-workers, citizens, and, most importantly, we are fellow Americans.
We must stand together.
Saturday’s shooting at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania calls on us all to take a step back, to take stock of where we are and how we go forward.
Thankfully, former President Trump was not seriously injured. I spoke with him Saturday night, and I’m grateful he is doing well. Jill and I keep him and his family in our prayers.
We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed. Corey was a husband, a father, a volunteer firefighter and a hero sheltering his family from those bullets. We should all hold his family and all those injured in our prayers.
I have said it many times that the choice we make in this election will shape the future of America and the world for decades to come.
Yes, we have deeply felt and strong disagreements. And the stakes in this election are enormously high.
But the path forward — through competing visions and campaigns — should always be resolved peacefully. Not through acts of violence.
All of us now face a time of testing as the elections approach. The Republican Convention will start tomorrow.
I will be traveling this week making the case for our record and vision for the country. I will continue to speak out strongly for our democracy and stand up for the Constitution and the rule of law. I will continue to call for action at the ballot box, not violence in our streets.
That’s how democracy should work. We debate and disagree. We compare and contrast the character of the candidates, the records, the issues, the agendas and visions for America.
We cannot lose sight of who we are.
In America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box. Not with bullets.
We cannot — we must not — go down this road in America. We have traveled it before throughout our history. Violence has never been the answer.
May God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.
U.S. President Joe Biden
Washington, D.C.
