WASHINGTON — President Biden called the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump “sick” and said he tried to call the presidential candidate in the hospital after the shooting at a Pennsylvania rally.
“I’ve tried to get in touch with Donald. He’s with the doctor. He appears to be doing well. I’ll speak with him as soon as I get back on the phone,” the 81-year-old president said near his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
“Look, there is no place for this kind of violence in America. This is horrible. This is one of the reasons we have to unite our country. We can’t allow this to happen. We can’t be like this. We can’t tolerate this.”
“I want to thank the Secret Service and all of the agencies that were involved, including state agencies,” Biden said.
The top commander did not confirm reports that one rally attendee was killed in addition to the suspected shooter.
“We have more details on other injuries. There may be injuries in the audience. I don’t have all of the details. I will provide those to you. I may be able to come back a little later tonight, but if I can’t come back – if I can’t come back, if it’s inconvenient for you – I will make a statement,” Biden continued.
“But at the end of the day, Trump’s rally was a peaceful rally that should have been uneventful. But the idea that there is political violence, or that this kind of violence is unheard of in America, is just not appropriate.”
“Everyone must condemn it,” the president said.
“We’ll continue to keep you posted. Once we’ve spoken to Donald, we’ll let you know,” he said. “Right now, he seems to be doing well.”
Biden concluded by saying, “I’ll be back on the phone, speaking with the federal agency, to get an update on if there’s anything, if we learn anything in the next few hours. Thank you very much. I hope to speak with him tonight, and I’ll get back to you when I do.”
In response to a reporter’s question, the president said he “doesn’t know enough” to know whether it was in fact an assassination attempt.
Some of Trump’s supporters pointed to comments made by Biden shortly after the shooting in which he accused Trump of being a would-be dictator during the campaign.
A Trump operative told the Post: “Joe Biden and his Democratic allies need to stop their dangerous and false narrative that democracy will end if President Trump wins the election. There are consequences for their lies.”
