WASHINGTON — President Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. Sunday following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Biden, 81, announced plans for the formal primetime address during brief afternoon remarks in the White House Roosevelt Room.
“I’ll be speaking more about this more tonight at greater length from the Oval Office,” Biden said. “We must unite as one nation, we must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are.”
Biden condemned the Saturday afternoon shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., as “sick” in his initial remarks hours after the shooting and in his Sunday afternoon comments expressed condolences Sunday afternoon to the family of Corey Comperatore, the rally attendee who died.
“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation,” Biden said — standing with Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“Unity is the most elusive goal of all,” the president said. “We’re gonna not lose sight of who we are as Americans.
Follow The Post’s latest stories on the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump:
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- Donald Trump urges the nation to not let ‘evil win’ and ‘fear not’ after shooting
- Gunman behind attempted assassination on Trump had head blown off by Secret Service, sources say; rally-goer killed
- Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was loner ‘relentlessly’ bullied in high school: classmate
- How Trump’s split-second head turn may have saved his life from assassin’s bullet
- Ex-volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore ID’d as Trump sniper victim, shielded his daughter from assassin’s bullets
- Search for Trump shooter’s motive delayed by explosives found in home and car: sources
Keep up to date on updates with the Post’s live blog on the assassination attempt on Trump
Biden said he had a “short but good conversation” with Trump in the aftermath of the shooting.
“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 fired, and he lost his live, God love him,” Biden said.
Biden has taken criticism from Republicans in the aftermath of the shooting for frequently claiming that Trump would be a dictator if elected on Nov. 5 and telling donors last Monday that he wanted to put a “bullseye” on Trump.
Corey Comperatore, 50, who served as the fire chief for Buffalo Township, was shot and killed by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, at a rally for Trump that left the former president and two others wounded.
“We don’t yet have any information about the motive of the shooter,” Biden said in his Sunday afternoon remarks. “We know who he is. I urge everyone, please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or associations. Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job. I’ve instructed that this investigation be thorough and swift.”