Transcripts: See what Joe Biden has said about the shooting of Donald Trump (2024)

Since the Saturday night assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has held two brief news conferences.

The president is scheduled to address the nation from the Oval Office later Sunday night and will sit down with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt for a pre-scheduled interview Monday night.

Here's what Biden has said so far about the attack on his political rival.

Live updates: Biden to address the nation tonight after Trump assassination attempt

'We must unite as a nation,' President Joe Biden says in Sunday remarks from the White House

The president said from the Roosevelt Room in the White House on Sunday, just one day before the Republican National Convention, that “unity is the most elusive goal of all," USA TODAY previously reported.

Biden confirmed he had a brief phone call with Trump. Initially, Biden told the press he had attempted to reach Trump, but he was being seen by his medical team.

"I'm sincerely grateful that he's doing well and recovering," he said. "Jill and I are keeping him and his family in our prayers."

'It's sick,' President Joe Biden says of violence in American politics after shooting of Donald Trump

During a news conference Saturday night in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden condemned the attack on Trump and called on the country to unify and denounce political violence.

"Look, there is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick," he said. "It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country.We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this."

The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service and Corey Comperatore, an innocent bystander attending the rally, was shot and killed as well.

Transcript of President Joe Biden's full remarks on Saturday following the shooting of Donald Trump

The White House provided this transcript of Biden's remarks on Saturday night:

Thanks for coming, folks. I’ve been thoroughly briefed by all the agencies in the federal government as to the situation, based on what we know now.

I have tried to get a hold of Donald. He’s with his doctors. They — apparently, he’s doing well. I plan on talking to him shortly, I hope, when I get back to the telephone.

Look, there is no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.

And so — and I want to thank the Secret Service and all the agencies, including the state agencies, that have been engaged in making sure that the people who — and we have more detail to come relative to the other injured — other people who may be injured in the audience. I don’t have all that detail, but we’ll make that available to you.

I may be able to come back a little later tonight. But we’ll put out a statement if we don’t — if I am not able to give — if we — if it’s not convenient for you all.

But the bottom line is that the ra- — the Trump rally was a rally that he should have been able to con- — be conducted peacefully without any problem. But the idea — the idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of. It was just not appropriate. And we — everybody — everybody must condemn it. Everybody.

I’ll keep you informed. And if I am able to speak to the — to Donald, I’ll — I’ll let you know that as well.

But so far, it appears he’s doing well. Number one.

Number two, that they’re as thoroughly investigating what happened to anyone else in the audience. I have s- — we have some reports, but not final reports.

And every agency in the federal government, and I’ll be — and I’m going back to — to my phone to speak with the federal agencies that are being put together again to give me an updated briefing — has anything happened, have they learned anymore in the last couple hours.

So, thank you very much. And I hope I get to speak to him tonight. And I’ll get to — back to you if I do. Okay?

Q Mr. President, do you think this was an assassination attempt?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know enough to — I — I have — I have a — 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 comment — any more comments.

Thank you.

Transcript of President Joe Biden's remarks Sunday at the White House

The White House provided this transcript of remarks that Biden delivered from the White House on Sunday afternoon:

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.