President Joe Biden addressed the nation Sunday following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, calling for national “unity” and strongly condemning the violence.
Biden noted that he spoke with Trump on Saturday evening in a “short but good conversation,” adding that he is “sincerely grateful that he’s doing well and recovering.”
“As I said last night, there is no place in America for this kind of violence, or any violence, for that matter — an assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation, everything,” Biden continued. “It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen. Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than that.”
The president was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Attorney General Merrick Garland while delivering the Sunday address.
“We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed,” the president added. “He was a father. He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired, and he lost his life. God love him.”
Biden urged America to not make assumptions about the motivations of the shooter as the FBI is currently giving the events a thorough investigation. “Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job,” Biden encouraged.
The president noted that he has instructed the Secret Service to provide Trump with all resources to “ensure his continued safety.” Additionally, Biden has directed a Secret Service review of all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin Monday. The president added that he has directed an independent review of the national security situation at the rally to determine what happened, the results of which will be shared with the public.
During a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a shooter attempted to assassinate the former president and current GOP nominee. Trump said he was shot in the ear in his first statement since the incident, adding that he “immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin” in a post on his Truth Social account.
Trump was around five minutes into his rally speech when shots rang out. He seemed to grab at his right ear before he was told to duck by Secret Service agents who jumped on top of him, then surrounded him as he rose to his feet. While he was guided off the stage, Trump had blood on his face as he held up his fist, encouraging attendees to “Fight” as he mouthed the word several times.
The event is currently being investigated by the FBI as an attempted assassination, according to multiple media reports.
Immediately following the incident, Biden held a press conference to condemn the violence in the strongest terms.
“Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick,” the president continued. “It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
“The idea that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this is just unheard of, is just not appropriate,” Biden added.
The president will speak again from the Oval Office on Sunday evening as the investigation into the event continues.
“We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are, and so may God bless you all, and may God protect our troops,” Biden concluded.
