President Joe Biden condemned political violence as “sick” during an impromptu address to the nation after former President Donald Trump survived a shooting during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
From a police station in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where Biden is spending the weekend, the president said he had tried to reach his Republican opponent by telephone, but so far the pair had not connected.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It is one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this,” Biden said Saturday.
When asked whether he believed it was an assassination attempt, Biden told reporters travelling with him that he had “an opinion but I don’t have any facts.”
In an earlier statement, Biden repeated that he was “grateful to hear” that Trump is “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,” he wrote. “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 announcement that Biden would address the nation was paired with an accompanying one from the campaign that it is “pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible.”
Biden was in a church service when the gunshots rang out at the Trump event six hours away, departing at 6:19 p.m.
Roughly 30 minutes later, the White House told reporters Biden had received an “initial briefing” on the incident, with a second one provided at 7:10 p.m. by Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Liz Sherwood-Randall, Biden’s White House homeland security adviser. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and top aides Steve Ricchetti and Annie Tomasini were also in attendance.
The White House circulated Biden’s statement at 7:52 p.m. before his address to nation at 8:13pm.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was in Philadelphia earlier Saturday, has similarly been briefed, according to her staff.
“I have been briefed on the shooting at former President Trump’s event in Pennsylvania,” Harris wrote in her own statement. “Doug and I are relieved that he is not seriously injured. We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting.”
“We are grateful to the United States Secret Service, first responders, and local authorities for their immediate action,” she said. “Violence such as this has no place in our nation. We must all condemn this abhorrent act and do our part to ensure that it does not lead to more violence.”
The Trump campaign has confirmed that the former president is “fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility.”
“President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told reporters. “More details will follow.”
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The Secret Service has “implemented protective measures” around Trump and that he is “safe,” per a Secret Service statement.
“This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi added.
