Biden, speaking without a teleprompter, said he was waiting for additional information before formally calling the attack an attempted assassination on the former president…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden said Saturday that “everybody must condemn” the suspected assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Addressing the nation about two hours after the shooting, Biden said he was relieved that Trump is reportedly “doing well.” He said he had been unable to reach Trump before his remarks, but the White House said he did speak to Trump several hours later.
“We cannot allow this to be happening,” Biden said. “The idea that there’s violence in America like this is just unheard of.”
Biden, speaking without a teleprompter, said he was waiting for additional information before formally calling the attack an attempted assassination on the former president.
“I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts,” he told reporters, pledging to provide updates as he learns more.
After midnight, he returned to the White House, cutting short a weekend stay in Delaware. The White House said he and Vice President Kamala Harris will receive an updated briefing from homeland security and law enforcement officials Sunday morning.
The president delivered remarks from the White House’s emergency briefing room in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, which is set up whenever the president travels to allow him to deliver remarks to the country in a matter of minutes. He was spending the weekend at his beach home and was at a nearby church for mass when the shooting occurred.
As he left the church, reporters asked if the president had been briefed about the shooting. Biden turned toward reporters with a serious look on his face but replied simply, “no,” before stepping into his motorcade.
Biden received an “initial briefing” from aides moments later then convened security officials for a more in-depth update from Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the United States Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
There was no immediate information on the shooter or their motivations.
The Biden campaign said Saturday that it was pausing all messaging to supporters and working to pull down all of its television ads as quickly as possible in light of the shooting.
Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that she was also briefed, adding that she and her husband “are relieved” that Trump was not seriously inured.
“We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting,” she said.
Shock and relief cross party lines
Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as some international friends and foes, expressed shock and relief Saturday night after an apparent assassination attempt at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers from both parties promised hearings and a comprehensive investigation into the attack.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said there would be hearings to investigate what happened. “We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from (the Department of Homeland Security) and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP,” Johnson said.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement that there were many questions to be answered. “I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will send a formal invitation soon.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., suggested on X that the Senate might hold similar hearings. “It’s a wonder Donald Trump is alive. Let’s call this what it was. An assassination attempt with at least one innocent bystander murdered. The nation needs to know who did this. And why. And we need a full, public investigation by Congress into HOW it happened,” Hawley posted.
Notable officials, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, praised the fast action of the Secret Service and expressed gratitude that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared to be OK.
“As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those in attendance at the former President’s rally today are unharmed.”
Pelosi’s husband was bludgeoned with a hammer in 2022 by a man who broke into their home.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said he had spoken to his father on the phone and “he is in great spirits.” “He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him,” Trump Jr. said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X: “Sara and I were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump. We pray for his safety and speedy recovery.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has an adversarial relationship with Trump, said during a campaign event broadcast on state television that he wished Trump a speedy recovery: “May God bless the people of the United States and give them peace and tranquility. We have been adversaries, but I wish President Trump health and long life, and I repudiate that attack.”
Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor in the White House, shared the views of others who have held the presidency, writing on social media: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.”
President Joe Biden said: “There’s no place in America for this type of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Bush praised the Secret Service for their “speedy response” to the violence. “Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life,” Bush wrote on X.
The messages of concern and relief were mixed with accusations that Biden was responsible and at least one call that the criminal cases against Trump be stopped.
Trump was convicted in New York in May on 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. He is awaiting trials in federal courts in Washington, D.C., and state court in Georgia on allegations of plotting to overturn a lost election, and a federal case in Florida that accuses him of illegally stowing classified documents at his Florida estate.
Posting on X, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee called for “President Biden to immediately order that all federal criminal charges against President Trump be dropped, and to ask the governors of New York and Georgia to do the same.”
Republican House member, Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, laid the blame on Biden, saying, “The Republican District Attorney in Butler County, PA, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Collins, a freshman member of Congress from a district east of Atlanta, has a history of provocative social media statements.