Biden Addresses Nation Amidst Political Turmoil

President Biden Delivers Oval Office Address To Nation

The Oval Office address is intended to be a reassuring American tradition. For decades, the President, seated behind the familiar Resolute Desk, addresses the nation directly through a single camera. “My fellow Americans,” Joe Biden began Sunday night, his third time speaking to the country from the Oval.

However, this moment is unlike the others. Biden faces perhaps the most challenging period of his presidency, with doubts about his mental acuity overshadowing his accomplishments. It’s been less than three weeks since Biden’s awkward debate performance sparked calls within his own party to replace him on the ticket, forcing him to desperately cling to his party’s support while hosting numerous world leaders for the NATO Summit. Then came the shocking events of Saturday evening, where a political rally in Butler, Penn., ended with two fatalities and Donald Trump being escorted away by Secret Service agents with blood on his face.

Now, the nation confronts a historic test in recovering from an assassination attempt against a former President and Biden’s current rival. It’s a test for Biden too. Can he rise to the occasion and uphold one of his campaign’s central tenets – to heal the country’s deep political divisions?

As Biden sat in the Oval Office, attempting to do just that, several advisors watched intently from the interior wall. Senior advisor Anita Dunn followed along with the transcript, nestled in a large green notebook, occasionally mouthing key lines.

“The political rhetoric in this country has become excessively heated. It’s time to cool things down. We all have a responsibility to do so,” Biden said.  “And remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We are neighbors, we’re friends, coworkers, citizens, and most importantly we are fellow Americans.”

During his six-minute address, Biden highlighted some of the most disturbing incidents of political violence over the past seven years: the 2017 shooting at a practice session for a Congressional baseball game; the riot on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; the attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; the intimidation of election officials; the kidnapping plot against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer; and, lastly, Saturday’s shooting at Trump’s rally.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence in America, ever. Period. No exceptions,” Biden said. 

Biden previously addressed the nation from the Oval Office last June following the economic fallout of exceeding the debt ceiling, and then in October after Hamas’s attack on Israel. As he spoke Sunday night, the White House allowed some news photographers to stand in the Rose Garden to capture photos of Biden during the speech through the Oval Office’s windows. After he finished speaking and the camera turned off, Biden looked over to his right, slightly startled, and said, “Who’s that guy outside the window?”

Sometimes Oval Office addresses signify the end of a turbulent period, but Biden’s current one shows no signs of resolution. Republicans are set to gather this week in Milwaukee for their national convention, where Biden’s mental state is likely to be a major topic of discussion. The Biden campaign will spend the week contrasting their vision for the future with what they perceive as Trump and Republicans’ “backward-looking agenda,” a campaign aide said. Although Biden canceled a campaign trip to Texas on Monday, he is sticking with a scheduled interview that evening with NBC’s Lester Holt, said the aide. Biden will then travel to Las Vegas, Nevada where he’ll speak at the NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday and UnidosUS Annual Conference on Wednesday.

The Oval Office speech marked a return to a core motivation for Biden’s political career. He entered politics after the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.  He decided to challenge Donald Trump in the 2020 election after Trump, as President, said there were good people on “both sides” in the deadly Charlottesville clashes with neo-Nazis objecting to the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Political violence, he told the country Sunday, must not be allowed to become normalized.

“Disagreement is unavoidable in American democracy, it’s part of human nature,” Biden said. “But politics must never be a literal battlefield, or God forbid, a killing field. I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate.”