President Joe Biden addressed the nation Sunday from the Oval Office, calling for unity in the wake of the attempted assassination of the former President Donald Trump. It was his first Oval Office address since October 19, 2023, when he called for more U.S. aid to Ukraine and Israel.

“A former president was shot. An American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. We cannot, we must not go down this road in America,” he said. 

Biden hearkened back to previous instances of political violence such as various attacks on U.S. congressmen and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. “We cannot allow this violence to be normalized,” the president warned. “It’s time to cool it down.”

Biden continued, “In America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box, not with bullets. The power to change America should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin.” 

This was Biden’s third speech since the former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. It lasted about six and a half minutes. 

Many found Biden’s pleas for unity unsatisfactory and not what is needed at this critical moment for America. The Fox News host Dana Perino said, “I thought that it felt short of meeting the moment…the president [Americans] REALLY want to hear from is Donald Trump.”