President Joe Biden spoke hours after former President Donald Trump was wounded in a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, saying “everybody must condemn” political violence.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence, it’s sick, it’s sick,” Biden said.
At the time of his remarks, Biden said he hadn’t gotten ahold of Trump because the former president was with his doctors and “apparently he’s doing well.” Biden did speak with Trump later on Saturday night, according to the White House.
The president said Trump should have been able to conduct a political rally peacefully, and said the idea of political violence in America is “just unheard of” and “inappropriate.”
“We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this,” Biden said.
In a statement released earlier on Saturday, Biden said “we must unite as one nation to condemn” violence like the rally incident. Other leaders, including former President Barack Obama, released similar statements urging respect and a rejection of political violence.
An official with Biden’s campaign said the team was working on “pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible” in light of the rally shooting.
According to The Associated Press, law enforcement officials say the shooting is being investigated as an attempted assassination.
Biden was in Delaware when the shooting occurred and was scheduled to stay there though the weekend, but is now returning to the White House, where he will receive updated briefings on the shooting.