Remarks by President Biden

Roosevelt Room

2:05 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:   Good afternoon.  Last night, I spoke with Donald Trump.  I’m sincerely grateful that he’s doing well and recovering.  And 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 who was killed.  He was a father.  He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired, and he lost his life.  God love him. 

We’re also praying for the full recovery of those who were injured.  And we’re grateful to the Secret Service agents and other law enforcement agencies who — and individuals who risked their lives, literally, for our nation.

As I said last night, there is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence for that matter.

An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a na- — as a nation.  Everything.  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, but nothing is important than that right now — unity.

We’ll debate, and we’ll disagree.  That’s not — that’s not going to change.  But it’s going to — we’re going to not lose sight of the fact of who we are as Americans.

Look, Vice President Harris and I were just briefed in the Situation Room by my homeland security team, including the director of the FBI, the secretary of Homeland Security, the attorney general, the director of the Secret Service, my homeland security advisor, the national security advisor.  And we’re going to continue to be briefed.

The FBI is leading this investigation, which is still in its early stages.  We don’t yet have any information about the motive of the shooter.  We know who he is.  I urge everyone — everyone, please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations.

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.

Look, as this investigation continues, here’s what we’re going to do.

First, Mr. Trump, as a former president and nominee of the Republican Party already receives a heightened level of security, and I have been consistent in my direction to the Secret Service to provide him with every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety.

Second, I’ve directed the head of the Secret Service to review all security measures for the — all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to start tomorrow.

And third, I’ve directed an independent review of the national security at yesterday’s rally to assess exactly what happened.  And we’ll share the results of that independent review with the American people as well.

And, finally, I’ll be speaking more about this tonight at greater length from the Oval Office: We must unite as one nation.  We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are. 

And so, may God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.

Thank you very much.

2:08 P.M. EDT