Washington — President Biden spoke Sunday about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, saying he is directing an independent review of the security and events at the Pennsylvania rally to determine what went wrong. The president said he will speak to the nation further from the Oval Office Sunday night.
One spectator was killed at the rally and two were critically wounded. Trump was injured with a graze wound to his ear. Mr. Biden said he wants to ensure Trump gets the security he needs.
“Last night, I spoke with Donald Trump,” the president said in his Sunday afternoon remarks. “I’m sincerely grateful that he’s doing well and recovering. We had a short but good conversation. Jill and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers. We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim that was killed.”
The president also spoke briefly Saturday night in Delaware after Trump, with blood visible on his face, was whisked off stage at a Pennsylvania rally when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear. The president, who has been updated regularly by top administration officials, received another briefing in the White House Situation Room on Sunday.
“We don’t yet have any information about the motive of the shooter, we know who he is,” the president said Sunday, without naming the suspect, who was identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper after opening fire.
“I urge everyone, everyone please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations,” the president said. “Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job. I’ve instructed that this investigation be thorough and swift, and the investigators will have every resource they need to get this done.”
The president said the independent security review of Saturday’s rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, will assess “exactly what happened,” and the results of that review will be made public.
Mr. Biden also said he has instructed the Secret Service to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Republicans and reporters landed in Wisconsin to the news of the assassination attempt. Trump, who has yet to name his vice presidential running mate, is expected to be formally nominated at the convention.
“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation, everything,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen. Unity is the most elusive goal of all.”
The president also called for unity in his initial remarks Saturday night, calling the assassination attempt “sick.”
“That’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country,” Mr. Biden said Saturday night from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “You cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this.”
Mr. Biden cut his weekend in Delaware short to travel back to the White House late Saturday in the wake of the assassination attempt.
The president and former president spoke by phone on Saturday. A White House official characterized the call as “good, short, and respectful,” pointing to a description from the Trump campaign.