On Saturday (July 13th), former President Trump was shot and injured at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. President Biden spoke on Saturday night, stating that the United States should not tolerate such violent acts. He later had a conversation with Trump. The White House announced that Biden would be returning to the White House earlier than planned.
The communications director of the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, issued a statement at 9:00 PM Eastern Time, confirming that the gunman was killed by the Secret Service, resulting in one death and three injuries.
On Saturday night, White House officials stated, “Tonight, President Biden had a conversation with former President Trump. The President also spoke with Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Mayor Bob Dandoi of Butler.”
The White House also released a statement that President Biden would be returning to the White House early from Robbinsville, Delaware. The statement mentioned that Biden is scheduled to arrive at the White House at 12:30 AM on Sunday.
He had originally planned to stay in Delaware until Monday and then fly directly to Texas for an event.
A senior government official stated that Biden’s return to the White House was to continue receiving briefings from law enforcement.
Dandoi told CNN that he received full support from the White House in his conversation with President Biden. “He (Biden) is willing to do anything for us, and I am willing to do the same,” he said.
Earlier, at Robbinsville, Delaware, Biden commented on the attack, saying, “This is too bad.”
“This is one of the reasons we must unite this country,” he said. “We cannot allow this to happen. We cannot. We cannot condone this behavior.”
He stated that political violence is “unheard of, inappropriate, and everyone must condemn it.”
Biden’s campaign team stated that following the shooting incident at the Trump rally, they have temporarily halted sending all information to supporters and are working to remove all television advertisements quickly.
Earlier in a statement, Biden expressed, “Glad to hear he is safe and unharmed. My prayers are with him, his family, and all those at the rally, and waiting for further information.”
“My wife Jill and I thank the Secret Service for protecting Trump. This violence has no place in America. We must come together as a nation and condemn this,” Biden said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland of the United States stated on Saturday that he had informed President Biden of the shooting incident at the Trump rally.
Garland said in a statement, “We will not tolerate any form of violence, and such violence is an attack on our democracy. The Department of Justice will use all available resources to conduct an investigation.”