President Joe Biden has stressed the need for divided Americans to come together as he addressed the nation, after Donald Trump was shot in an assassination attempt.
Mr Biden said “politics should never be a political battlefield or, God forbid, a killing field” as he spoke in a televised address from the Oval Office.
“We need to lower the temperature in our politics,” he added.
Former president Trump, 78, suffered a bullet wound to his ear in the shooting, which happened early on Saturday evening as he was giving a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions,” said Mr Biden in his address.
“We can’t allow this violence to be normalised. The political rhetoric of this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down.”
Pic: AP
He said passions would run high on both sides and the stakes of the election were enormous.
“We can do this,” Mr Biden implored, saying the nation was founded on a democracy that gave reason and balance a chance to prevail over brute force.
“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.”
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The former president said in a social media post he was going to delay his trip by two days because of the attempted assassination “but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else”.