WASHINGTON — Homeland security and law enforcement officials briefed President Joe Biden on Sunday on the suspected assassination attempt on his predecessor, Donald Trump. The White House continued to call for national unity and condemn the shocking act of violence.
Vice President Kamala Harris joined Biden for an update from key investigators.
Biden quickly condemned the shooting and spoke to Trump on Saturday night, while his campaign struggles to navigate the political implications of an attack on the man Biden hopes to defeat in November’s election.
Trump himself called for unity and national resilience, and his aides said he was “in good spirits and doing well” after being injured at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. He is pressing ahead with plans to attend this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where criticism of Biden and the Democrats is sure to be fierce.
In the moments after the shooting, Biden’s re-election campaign said it was “halting all outgoing communications and working to stop our television advertising as quickly as possible.” It was not clear how long the suspension would last.
Harris has postponed her planned campaign trip to Florida on Tuesday, where she was supposed to meet with female Republican voters, in light of Saturday’s shooting, according to a campaign aide.
Investigators are still in the early stages of determining what happened and why. But some Biden critics are criticizing the president for telling donors in a private call on July 8 that “it’s time to put Trump in the crosshairs.”
A source familiar with the comments said Sunday that the president was trying to make clear that Trump had gotten away with a quiet public schedule after last month’s debate, while the president himself was under fire from many, even within his own party, for his poor performance at the debate.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity so he could discuss private conversations freely.
During the donor call, Biden said, “I have one job and that is to defeat Donald Trump … I am absolutely confident that I am the best person to do that.”
He continued: “So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to get our eyes on Trump. He’s gotten away with doing nothing for the last 10 days except driving around in his golf cart, bragging about scores he didn’t make… Anyway, I’m not going to comment on his golf game.”
In his initial response to the Saturday night shooting, Biden condemned the attempt on Trump’s life. The White House said the two men spoke Saturday night but did not provide details.
“Look, there is no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said Saturday night, before rushing back to the White House from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he had spent the weekend. “It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to happen. We cannot be this way. We cannot condone this.”
