Biden asks not to guess the shooter’s motive amid rush to cast blame

PResident Biden tried to lower the temperature in the country on Sunday, urging Americans not to speculate about why a gunman opened fire on Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said the FBI still has no information about the shooter’s motive and urged Americans to “let the FBI do its job.” He said he told the FBI to make the investigation “thorough and swift” and directed “all resources” to investigators. As for why the shooter pulled the trigger, Biden said, “I ask everyone — everyone, please, not to make assumptions about his motives or his affiliations.”

Biden’s comments come as unproven theories circulate about why a gunman shot Trump at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, lacerating Trump’s ear, killing one of the rally attendees and injuring others. The FBI says the shooter was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of nearby Bethel Park.

Almost immediately after the shooting, prominent Trump allies began publicly spreading baseless accusations that Democrats and Biden were behind the shooting or recklessly encouraged it. “The Democrats wanted this to happen. They have wanted Trump gone for years and are prepared to do anything to make that happen,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green wrote Saturday night in X.

“Joe Biden sent the orders,” he wrote Republican Congressman Mike Collins of Georgia in X.

After the shooting, Republicans accused Biden of previously using incendiary language directed at Trump. During a closed-door conversation with top donors on July 8, Biden told his campaign’s national finance committee that he would step up criticism of Trump, saying, “It’s time to put Trump on target.” Trump and his campaign repeatedly used inflammatory phrases in messages to his supporters, including allegations that Biden was actively working to steal the election and corruptly orchestrating several criminal cases against Trump.

The Secret Service is under heavy scrutiny over security measures at Trump’s rally, given that the shooter was able to fire shots from the roof of a building within line of sight from where Trump was speaking. Biden said that Trump, “as a former president and Republican Party candidate, already receives a heightened level of security” and said, “I have been consistent in my guidance to the Secret Service to provide it with all resources, capabilities, and measure of necessary protection to ensure your continued safety.”

The Republican National Convention begins Monday in Milwaukee. The weeklong event is expected to go on as planned, with Trump announcing his running mate as early as Monday. Biden said he ordered the head of the United States Secret Service to review “all security measures” for the convention. He also launched “an independent review” of security at the Trump rally.

Biden’s comments on Sunday afternoon were his second since the shooting. He reiterated that he had a “good conversation” with Trump on Saturday night and is “sincerely grateful” that Trump is okay.

Biden said he plans to address the nation for a third time on Sunday night at 8 p.m. — a rare televised address from the Oval Office. In those remarks, he said, he will delve deeper into how the U.S. can come together. “Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than that right now — unity,” Biden said. “We will debate and disagree. That’s not, that’s not going to change. But it will happen – let’s not lose sight of the fact of who we are as Americans.”