Biden says ‘everybody must condemn’ political violence after shooting at Trump rally
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President Joe Biden said every American must condemn political violence after his predecessor and 2024 election opponent, former president Donald Trump, was injured during a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Speaking from a convention center at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden said he’s been “thoroughly briefed by all the agencies in the federal government”
“grateful to hear” that his 2024 opponent, Donald Trump, is “safe and doing well” after a shooting at the former president’s campaign rally left him injured.
In a statement, Biden said that he is “praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally” as he awaits further information about what happened.
He also said that he and First Lady Jill Biden are “grateful to the Secret Service” for getting Trump to safety.
The Secret Service are investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt.
“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” Biden added.
A White House official said Biden would deliver remarks on the shooting later on Saturday evening.
Biden’s statement came not long after he and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the shooting.
According to a White House official, Biden received a briefing from Kimberly Cheatle, director of the US Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and his Homeland Security Adviser, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
Biden is at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday and received an initial briefing on the shooting shortly after leaving Mass at St. Edmond’s Roman Catholic Church.
Separately, an official with the Office of the Vice President said Harris received what they described as an “initial briefing” at her official residence in Washington, shortly after she returned from a campaign stop in Philadelphia.
Steven Cheung, communications director for Trump’s presidential campaign, said in a statement that Trump is “fine” and being “checked out a local medical facility” after he was tackled, then hustled off stage at the rally by members of his Secret Service detail after gunshots rang out while he was speaking.
Cheung added that Trump “thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act.”
The perpetrator appears to be dead after multiple law enforcement said a shooter had been “neutralized”.
