President Joe Biden made remarks to the media on Monday following the second alleged assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
While addressing the crowd, Trump stated, “America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassin’s bullet. It solves nothing and just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.” He continued, “Let me just say, there is no — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart… there is no place for political violence in America. None, zero, never.”
As previously reported, the FBI and U.S. Secret Service are currently investigating the incident, which the FBI has characterized as “an attempted assassination of Trump.” The Republican presidential nominee was at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday when U.S. Secret Service agents discovered several bullet holes near the area where Trump was playing. They also found the muzzle of an AK-style rifle in the vicinity. A suspect was apprehended after attempting to flee the scene when agents opened fire.
President Biden on attempted assassination against former President Trump: "America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassins bullet. It solves nothing and just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen." pic.twitter.com/yMharps9cM
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 16, 2024
“Let me just say, there is no — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart… there is no place for political violence in America. None, zero, never.”
President Biden speaks about apparent Trump assassination attempt. pic.twitter.com/VbIizKzNVE
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 16, 2024
The suspect has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, who was charged on Monday with two counts: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Despite President Biden’s statements supporting safety, Trump spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital on Monday morning, placing blame on Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the latest attack.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said in the interview. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
Trump, who was also targeted on July 13, 2024, and survived a first assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania — expressed gratitude to those who offered their well wishes and to the authorities for “keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican nominee in the upcoming presidential election, SAFE.”