President Biden addressed the country Sunday night with a plea to “cool it down,” a day after a gunman fired on former President Donald Trump at a political rally.

Mr. Biden said investigators still don’t know a motive for the shooting, nor even whether the dead suspect acted alone. He expressed relief that Mr. Trump is not seriously wounded and expressed condolences to the rally-goer who was killed in the attack.

And he called for all sides to tone down the war of words.

“Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of use to take a step back,” Mr. Biden said.

He ticked off a series of recent events he said were examples of where things got out of hand, including the Jan. 6, 2021, mob invasion of the U.S. Capitol; a plot to kidnap the Democratic governor of Michigan; “intimidation” of election officials; and an attack on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And he tied it to passions he suggested are inflamed by words.

“The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated,” he said. “It’s time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that.”

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.