In an Independence Day speech on Monday overshadowed by a mass shooting at a holiday parade in a Chicago suburb, US President Joe Biden tried to strike an upbeat note of solidarity.
At a July 4 barbecue at the White House for military families, Vice President Joe Biden expressed confidence that America will survive what he called these "unsettling" times.
Biden was referring to a string of recent Supreme Court decisions that curtailed the government's power to combat climate change, increased gun rights for those who wish to carry firearms in public, and rejected a legal right to an abortion that had been in place for 50 years.
On this day amid the storm and strife, may we commit ourselves to a principled patriotism," he said. "I believe we're more united than we are divided. Even more I believe it's a choice we make, and I believe it's within our power to choose unity and unity of purpose."
He had previously denounced the "senseless" act of violence and vowed to continue fighting what he called the epidemic of gun violence in America.
According to an advocacy group called the Gun Violence Archive, the nation has already experienced at least 309 mass shootings this year."The economy is growing, but not without pain. Liberty is under assault, assault both here and abroad," Biden said.