US President Joe Biden sent out a message of unity a day after his rival-predecessor Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt, calling on the nation to lower the temperature of hostile politics.

In a rare Oval Office address on Sunday, Biden maintained that fellow Americans are not enemies, but friends and co-workers who must stand together despite disagreements.

“I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, when we disagree, we are not enemies, we are neighbours, we are friends, co-workers, citizens and most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together,” he said.

Trump, the 78-year-old Republican whose candidature in the Presidential elections is all but finalised, was left with a bloodied face after being hit in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania while a bystander was killed in the attack.

The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks – a registered Republican, was shot dead at the spot.

After the attack, Trump too shared a message of unity and said Americans must not allow “evil to win”. “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he said on social media.

Biden, in a televised address from behind the historic Resolute Desk, said it’s time to “cool down” the country’s political record.

“Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here…Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is important than that right now – unity,” he told the nation.

Both sides had a responsibility to ease the situation, added the 81-year-old Democrat.

Biden had earlier denounced the shooting incident in an online post, asserting there’s no place in America for any kind of violence. Earlier in the day, he said he had a “short but good conversation” after the attack with Trump.

“As assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen,” he said earlier in the day.

The spectator who died in the shooting that targeted Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally has been identified as Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter and father of two.

“We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night, Corey Comperatore,” the state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, told reporters. “I just spoke to his wife and his two daughters.”

He said the victim was a churchgoing firefighter and an enthusiastic Trump supporter who “loved his community and most especially…his family.”

Josh Shapiro called Saturday’s shooting, in which two other spectators were wounded, “shocking, for this Commonwealth (state) and the country.”

The other victims have yet to be identified, though NPR news affiliate WESA quoted hospital officials in Pittsburgh as saying both were local men and both remained in critical condition.

The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of nearby Bethel Park, was killed by a Secret Service sniper.

One of Corey Comperatore’s daughters, Allyson, described her father in a Facebook post as “the best dad a girl could ever ask for,” someone always ready to help and quick to “make friends with anyone.”

“The media will not tell you that he died a real-life super hero,” she said.

“He threw my mom and I to the ground… (and) shielded my body from the bullet that came at us.”

Josh Shapiro also described Corey Comperatore as “a hero” who died protecting his family. He said state flags would be flown at half-staff to honor the victim.

“Corey was an avid supporter of the former president,” Josh Shapiro added, “and was so excited to be there last night.”

A GoFundMe page created to raise money for the Comperatore family had received donations of nearly $330,000 as of 3:00 pm.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump first came to law enforcement’s attention at Saturday’s rally when spectators noticed him acting strangely outside the campaign event. The tip sparked a frantic search but officers were unable to find him before he managed to get on a roof, where he opened fire. In the wake of the shooting that killed one spectator, investigators were hunting for any clues about what may have drove Thomas Matthew Crooks to carry out the shocking attack.