Joe Biden Denounces Donald Trump Shooting: Read Full Remarks

In response to the shooting incident on Saturday at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Joe Biden delivered remarks condemning the act of violence. Here is the full transcript of Biden’s initial statement:

“I’ve been thoroughly briefed by all the agencies in the federal government as the situation based on what we know now. I have tried to get a hold of the Donald. He’s with his doctors. apparently, he is doing well. I plan on talking to him shortly, I hope, when I get back to the telephone. Look, there is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick, it’s sick. 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.

And I want to thank the Secret Service and the agencies, including the state agencies, that have engaged in making sure that—we have more detail to come relative to other people maybe injured in the audience. I don’t have all that detail. We’ll make that available to you. I may be able to come back later tonight—we will put out a statement if I’m not able to give—if it’s not convenient for you all.

But the bottom-line is, that the Trump rally—the rally that he should have been able to conduct peacefully without any problem. But the idea—the idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this, is just unheard of. It’s just not appropriate. I mean everybody—everybody must condemn it, everybody. I’ll keep you informed and if I [manage] to speak to Donald, I’ll let you know that as well. So far, it appears he’s doing well, number one. Number two, that there’s—thoroughly investigating what happened to anyone else in the audience. There has to be a—some reports but not final reports. And every agency in the federal government—and I’m going back to my phone to speak with the federal agencies that have been put together again to give me an update, a briefing as in anything that happened, they learned more in the last couple of hours. So, thank you very much and I hope I get to speak to him tonight. And I’ll get back to you tonight if I do.”

Following his initial remarks, Biden was asked by a reporter if he thought the shooting was an assassination attempt. The President replied: “I don’t know enough to—I, I’ve an opinion but I don’t have any facts. So, I want to make sure we have all the facts before I make some—before I make any more comments.”

The President also indicated that federal agencies are actively investigating the situation and promised to keep the public informed of any developments.

The coming days will likely see further developments in the investigation and potentially more detailed responses from political leaders across the spectrum.