'It's sick': Joe Biden condemns shooting at Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON ― President Joe Biden condemned the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday and said there’s no place in America for political violence.
“It’s sick,” he said. “We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot condone this.”
Biden said he tried to reach Trump, but that he was with his doctors. “It appears he’s doing well,” he said.
A White House official said later Biden had spoken to Trump, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Bob Dandoy, the mayor of Butler, Pennsylvania, where the rally was held. No details of the conversation were disclosed.
Trump was rushed offstage after gunshots rang out as he spoke to supporters at a rally in Butler, near Pittsburgh. He appeared to have blood on his face.
Another person at the rally, who officials have not identified, was killed in the shooting. Another individual was in critical condition.
The attack against Trump came just days before he was to formally accept the GOP nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Biden, who is locked in a rematch with Trump, whom he defeated in 2020, said Trump should have been able to conduct his rally “peacefully, without any problem.”
“The idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of,” Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “It’s just not appropriate. Everyone – everybody – must condemn it. Everybody.”
Asked if he thought the shooting was an attempted assassination, Biden said, “I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts. So I want to make sure we have all the facts before I make some comment.”
Biden cut his weekend trip to Delaware short and headed back to the White House following the attack on Trump. Biden was scheduled to spend the weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach and then travel Monday to Texas to deliver a speech on civil rights and democracy at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin.
Biden instead departed Rehoboth late Saturday night and arrived back at the White House early Sunday morning.
Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden condemns shooting at Trump political rally in Pennsylvania
