President Joe Biden has insisted there is “no place in America” for the “violence” that occurred at a campaign rally on Saturday (13.07.24) after Donald Trump was shot.
The 81-year-old US leader has condemned the shocking incident which saw his political rival struck in the ear while on stage in Pennsylvania, while one other person was killed and two injured after an as-yet unnamed gunman – who was killed by Secret Service agents – opened fire, branding what happened “sick”.
In his first TV remarks since the shooting, Joe said from his home in Delaware: “It’s sick. That’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to be happening. We cannot be like this, we cannot condone this.
“The bottom line is, the Trump rally is a rally that he should have been able to conduct peacefully without any problem. But the idea that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this, is just unheard of. It’s just not appropriate.
Everybody must condemn it. Everybody.”
Asked if he thought it was an assassination attempt against Trump, he added: “I don’t know enough, I have an opinion but I don’t have any facts, so I want to make sure we have all the facts before I make a comment.”
The president expressed his intention to speak with the former ‘Apprentice’ star.
He said: “I tried to get a hold of Donald. He’s with his doctors, apparently he’s doing well. I plan on talking to him shortly.”
It is believes that since speaking out, the pair have spoken and the president has returned to the White House after cutting short his trip.
Earlier in the evening, Joe issued a brief statement after he was briefed on the shooting.
He said: “I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well.
“I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.
“Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
The FBI are leading the investigation into what happened and are said to be treating it as an assassination attempt.
A spokesperson said: “The FBI has assumed the role of the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the incident involving former President Donald Trump that occurred earlier today in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Special agents of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office responded immediately, to include crisis response team members and evidence response technicians.
“We will continue to support this investigation with the full resources of the FBI, alongside our partners at the U.S. Secret Service and state and local law enforcement. Anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is asked to call our tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
