The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden spoke with former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening. The conversation took place after the former president was shot and injured during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Before the phone call, President Biden also delivered remarks condemning the violence and urging Americans to unite against it.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick, it’s sick,” President Biden said from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
“It’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country,” he said. “We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
President Biden was asked if this was an assassination attempt against the former president.
“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 comments,” he said.
The president also spoke to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy, according to the White House.
After his speech, President Biden returned to Washington from Rehoboth earlier than planned. Initially, the president intended to spend the weekend at his beach house.
Former President Trump was minutes into his speech in front of a crowd of thousands of people when several gunshots interrupted the event. The former president grabbed his right ear and dropped behind his podium before Secret Service agents quickly ran up to cover him.
Former President Trump confirmed in a Truth Social post that “a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The person who allegedly shot him is dead, according to the Butler County district attorney.
A rallygoer was also killed in the attack, according to the district attorney’s office. Two more supporters of the former president have sustained critical injuries, the FBI confirmed.
According to media reports, the Biden campaign has paused all outbound communications and has planned to pull down its television ads.
Before his speech, President Biden also released a statement, condemning the attack.
“I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well,” the president said nearly two hours after the incident.
“I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.”
“Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” he said.
According to the White House, people who briefed the president after the shooting included Kimberly Cheatle, director of the United States Secretary Service; Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas; and Liz Sherwood-Randall, assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor.
Former President Barack Obama also released a statement condemning the attack.
“There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy,” former President Obama said in a statement on X. “Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.”
