President Biden said Sunday that “assassination attempts are antithetical to every ideal we stand for as a nation” after former President Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt at a rally, and vowed to ensure that the US Secret Service provides former President Trump “all the resources, capabilities and safeguards necessary to continue to ensure his safety.”
Biden spoke in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sunday afternoon and is scheduled to address the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday evening.
“I spoke with Donald Trump last night and I’m very grateful that he’s doing well and is recovering. We had a short but good conversation. Jill and I are praying for him and his family,” Biden said. “I also offer my deepest condolences to the family of the murder victim. He was a father. He was protecting his family. A bullet struck him and he lost his life. God love him.”
“We come to the game with our hearts and prayers for a full recovery for those injured, and we thank the Secret Service, other law enforcement agencies and individuals who literally risked their lives for our country,” he added.
Former President Trump was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday when multiple shots were fired toward the stage from a high vantage point outside the rally venue. The bullet penetrated the top of Trump’s right ear. Former President Trump was hurriedly escorted off the stage by Secret Service personnel.
Trump claims he was ‘shot by a bullet’ in assassination attempt at Pennsylvania rally
The would-be assassin was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
One spectator died: Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief from Buffalo Township, Pennsylvania, who was shot while trying to shield his wife and daughters from the bullets.
Two other people were seriously injured in the attack, authorities said.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt.
“As I said last night, there is no place in America for violence like this or any violence. An assassination attempt goes against everything. We stand by that as a nation. Everything,” Biden said. “That’s not who our country is. That’s not America. And we cannot allow this to happen.”
“Unity is the hardest goal to achieve, but right now nothing is more important,” Biden said.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump reacts as multiple gunshots ring out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, USA, July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“When we come together, we’re going to have arguments, we’re going to have differences. That doesn’t mean we’re going to change, it just means we don’t lose sight of who we are as Americans,” Biden said.
Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed by their homeland security team in the Situation Room, “which includes the director of the FBI, the secretary of homeland security, the attorney general, the director of the Secret Service, my homeland security advisor and my national security advisor. They will continue to be briefed.”
Biden stressed that the investigation is being led by the FBI and said it is “still in the early stages.”
“We still don’t have information about the shooter’s motive. We know who the shooter is,” Biden said, adding: “I urge everyone not to speculate about the shooter’s motive or affiliation.”
President Biden and Vice President Harris received update briefings from Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement officials in the White House Situation Room.
“Please allow the FBI and our partners to do their job. I have been directed to conduct this investigation thoroughly and swiftly, and my agents will bring every resource necessary to this investigation,” Biden said.
Biden said former president and Republican nominee Trump was “already under high levels of security.”
“I have consistently directed the Secret Service to provide all the resources, capabilities and safeguards necessary to ensure the ongoing security of President Trump,” Biden said.
“I have directed the Director of the Secret Service to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow,” Biden said.
Biden also said, “I will lead an independent national security investigation into yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened, and I will share the findings of that independent investigation with the American people.”
The president said he planned to say more on Sunday evening.
“We have to come together as one country. We have to come together as one country to show who we are,” he said.
Live updates on deadly shooting at Trump rally
Republican candidate Donald Trump was photographed being escorted off stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, with blood running down his face and surrounded by Secret Service agents. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden’s speech Sunday came after he and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed by Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement officials in the White House Situation Room.
Biden called former President Trump after the assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday night, and the White House said the call was “good, short and respectful.”
Trump campaign, RNC say convention will go ahead after rally shooting
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump waves as he is led off the stage surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
Biden condemned the shooting on Saturday night, calling the assassination attempt on the former president and presidential candidate “sick.”
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Biden campaign announced Saturday night that it was halting all campaign advertising targeting Trump and suspending all external communications. The campaign is in the midst of a $50 million advertising offensive this month that has seen it run ads in every key battleground state.
