President Joe Biden warned Americans against making assumptions about the motive behind Donald Trump’s assassination and said he had ordered “every resource” available to protect his Republican rival.
“We still don’t have any information on the shooter’s motive,” Biden said Sunday from the White House.
“Don’t make assumptions about his motives,” the president urged. Some Republicans have already begun to blame Biden and his campaign rhetoric for the attempted assassination of his Republican rival.
Biden devoted much of his remarks to defending the Secret Service against criticism and rejecting accusations that not enough had been done to protect the former president.
The Secret Service denied that Trump was not given greater protection despite being the likely Republican presidential nominee.
“Mr. Trump, as a former president and the nominee of the Republican Party, already receives a heightened level of security. And I have followed my instructions in the Secret Service to provide him with all the resources, capabilities and protective measures necessary to ensure his continued safety,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden Addresses Donald Trump’s Assassination From the White House
Biden added that he will address the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night and that he has ordered an independent review of what happened at Saturday night’s rally.
Biden said he spoke to Trump on Saturday night and was glad the former president was doing well following the assassination attempt.
He also said he was praying for the family of Corey Comperatore, the spectator who died at the Trump rally.
“We also send our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed. He was a father who was protecting his family from the bullets being fired at him and he lost his life. May God bless him,” Biden said.
Questions have been raised about how Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old would-be assassin, was able to get to the roof of a building so close to the site of Trump’s rally.
The robbers grazed Trump’s ear, killed one bystander and injured two more before a counterattacking Secret Service agent killed him.
Biden said the results of the investigation into the security measures at Trump’s rally would be made public and denounced the assassination attempt.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence or any kind of violence,” Biden said. “Attempted murder is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not American.”
Biden was joined in the Roosevelt Room of the White House by Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The president said he has ordered a review of security measures at the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to begin Monday in Milwaukee.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he is led off the stage.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
Trump announced that he will travel to Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.
“Due to the terrible events of yesterday, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin and the Republican National Convention by two days, but I just decided that I cannot allow a “shooter” or potential assassin to force me to change my schedule or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as planned, at 3:30 pm TODAY. Thank you!” she wrote on Truth Social.
Trump was taken to his home in Bedminster, New Jersey, after being released from the hospital.
His campaign said the convention will go on as planned.
