They save the Oval Office address for serious times – conflict, typically.
On both counts – serious and conflict – a president’s prime-time appearance seemed appropriate.
This was a Joe Biden presentation on the gravity of the current situation, eyeballing an American audience on attritional politics.
Phrases like “political battlefield” and “killing field” offered an extreme warning, the choice of language deliberately stark and arresting.
Read more: Biden addresses the nation after Trump attack
It might have sounded like hyperbole, had Saturday’s events not rendered it real.
Biden’s call for unity represents a noble ambition but one that sets hope against expectation.
Ideological differences drive a hostility and division that are entrenched in US politics and there has been enough early reaction to suggest Saturday hasn’t wholly changed that.
There’s no doubt Americans are united in shock at what happened in Pennsylvania but there’s disunity around where blame lies.
Biden asks for the temperature to be lowered in politics. The question is how he squares that with an aggressive Democratic campaign that places Donald Trump front and centre, as an existential threat to democracy.
While he presents himself as consoler-in-chief offering leadership in a time of distress, he does so as an election candidate in a desperate race for the White House.
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How does he square the two?
Ditch the campaign attack ads and prosecute the argument with polite suggestion?
As he negotiates a path forward, Biden has contradictions to calibrate – a key measure will be Trump’s response.
Trump has yet to speak publicly since he was hit by a would-be assassin’s bullet. Having travelled to the Republican National Convention, the stage is set for him to address the party faithful as they prepare to anoint him as their nominee.
Will Trump join Biden in calling for a more peaceful politics? It would deliver a strong message to the political trenches.
However, given their history, relationship and political tension between the two, it’s a lot to hope for.
At a time of increased threats of political violence, and the actual execution of it, a joint effort to reduce the rhetoric would settle nerves among a public concerned at where politics have taken America and by where they might take it next.