President Joe Biden cautioned Americans about making assumptions into the motive behind the assassination of Donald Trump and said he's ordered 'every resource' available to protect his Republican rival.
'We don't yet have any information about the motive of the shooter,' Biden said Sunday from the White House.
'Don't make assumptions about his motives,' the president pleaded. Some Republicans have already started blaming Biden and his campaign rhetoric for the attempted assassination of his Republican rival.
Biden spent much of his remarks defending the Secret Service against criticism and pushing back on allegations not enough had been done to protect the former president.
The Secret Service denied that Trump hasn't been given increased protection despite being the presupmtive GOP presidential nominee.
'Mr. Trump as a former president and nominee Republican party already receives a heightened level of security. And I've consistent in my direction in the Secret Service to provide been him with every resource, capability, and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety,' Biden said.
President Joe Biden addressed Donald Trump's assassination from the White House
Biden added he would address the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night and that he's ordered an independent review of what happened at Saturday night's rally.
Biden said he spoke to Trump on Saturday night and was glad the former president was doing well in the wake of the assassination attempt.
He also said he was praying for the family of Corey Comperatore, the spectator who was killed at Trump's rally.
'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 are being fired lost his life. God love him,' Biden said.
Questions have been raised as to how Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old would-be assassin, was able to get on a building rooftop so close to Trump's rally site.
Crooks grazed Trump's ear, killed one spectator and injured two more before a Secret Service counter assault agent killed him.
Biden said the results of the investigation into the protective measures at Trump's rally would be made public. And he denounced the assassination attempt.
'There is no place in America for this kind of violence or any violence for that matter,' Biden said. 'The assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation. Everything it's not who we are as a nation. It's not American.'
Biden was joined in the Roosevelt Room of the White House by Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The president noted he ordered a review of security measures at the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to begin Monday in Milwaukee.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he is taken from the stage
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas
Trump announced he will head to Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon.
'Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a “shooter,” or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 P.M. TODAY. Thank you!,' he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump was taken to his Bedminster, N.J., home after he was released from the hospital.
His campaign said the convention will continue as planned.
Biden's campaign, meanwhile, is grappling with how to compete against Trump in the wake of the assassination attempt.
Biden postponed a planned trip to Texas on Monday, where he was to speak on the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library.
And Vice President Kamala Harris postponed a trip to Palm Beach County - where Trump's Mar-a-Lago home is located - where she was going to campaign against Republicans' record on reproductive rights.
The Biden campaign did pull down all its television ads and suspend digital operations. It is unclear how long that pause will last.
