President Biden on Saturday night condemned political violence as “sick” after his rival, former President Donald Trump, survived an attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Biden stopped short of publicly calling the shooting of Mr. Trump an assassination attempt.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick,” Mr. Biden said as he addressed the nation from Delaware after the incident. “It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
He thanked the Secret Service and other local agencies for being “really engaged” and called on the country to condemn the incident.
Mr. Biden said the “bottom line” is that the Trump rally “should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem.”
He said he tried to call Mr. Trump but didn’t immediately reach him because the former president was with his doctors. Mr. Biden said he would try to contact Mr. Trump again.
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When asked if he thought it was an assassination attempt, Mr. Biden says he has “an opinion, but I don’t have any facts.” He was briefed earlier by aides on the shooting.
Earlier, Mr. Biden said in a statement issued by the White House that he was “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,” the president said. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety.”
The horrific event played out amid a heated presidential race that has divided the nation. It was Mr. Trump’s final campaign rally before he was set to receive the Republican Party’s nomination next week at the GOP national convention.
Mr. Biden, meanwhile, is struggling to convince Democrats that he should lead the party into the November election after fumbling through the first debate on June 27.
The noise of gunshots rang through the rally shortly after Mr. Trump had begun his remarks at the event in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
Rallygoers said they initially thought the popping sound was firecrackers before reality set in as Mr. Trump ducked behind the podium on the stage holding his right ear and Secret Service agents rushed the stage.
Mr. Trump emerged with some blood on his face. He pumped his fist before he was whisked away by Secret Service agents.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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