Biden says Secret Service ‘needs more help’ after apparent Trump assassination attempt
Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said on Monday the Secret Service “needs more help” as he briefly addressed the apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump while departing the White House.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One, Biden said, “Thank God the president’s OK.”
“One thing I want to make clear, the [Secret] Service needs more help and I think the Congress should respond to their needs, if in fact they need more services,” Biden added. He said he believed the agency may need more personnel.
Secret Service agents accompanying Trump fired at a man armed with an AK-47-style rifle on or near the Trump International golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday. The FBI said it is investigating the matter as a possible assassination attempt. The incident comes just two months after the former president was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump thanked law enforcement, including the Secret Service, for keeping him safe during the incident.
Biden, in a written statement in Sunday, also commended the Secret Service and their partners “for their vigilance and their efforts to keep the former President and those around him safe” and denounced political violence.
“There is an active investigation into this incident as law enforcement gathers more details about what happened,” Biden said. “As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz speaks during the Vice Presidential debate in New York City, Oct. 1, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — During the first and only vice presidential debate of this election cycle Tuesday evening, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz admitted he “misspoke” about being in China during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Walz has repeatedly claimed he was in China for the protests during his year-long stint as a high school teacher in the southeastern Chinese town of Foshan.
As recently as in February, Walz said during an episode of the podcast “Pod Save America” that he was in Hong Kong during the protests.
“I was in Hong Kong when it happened – I was in Hong Kong on June 4th when Tiananmen happened … Quite a few of our folks decided not to go in,” he said.
It appears Walz did not actually travel to the region until August 1989, according to local newspaper clippings obtained by ABC News. The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which led to a deadly government crackdown by the Chinese government, lasted from April 15 to June 4 that year — ending about two months ahead of Walz’s travel to the country.
Pressed to clarify news reports that disprove such claims, Walz said that he “misspoke” in his earlier claims but then reiterated that he “was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest.”
While evading the question over whether he was telling the truth about the timeline of his travel, Walz defended his character by admitting he has gaffes, has “not been perfect” and is a “knucklehead at times.”
This marks another instance of Walz appearing to have misspoken about his past.
The Democratic vice presidential pick previously came under fire for his military record, with critics attacking the way he has characterized his experience and pointing out instances of him failing to correct inaccuracies.
In addition to Walz repeatedly saying that he retired with a rank he achieved but did not retire with, the Harris-Walz campaign admitted he misspoke when stating in 2018 that he carried weapons of war “in war.”
Mark Robinson, Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina and candidate for Governor, delivers remarks prior to Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaking at a campaign event at Harrah’s Cherokee Center on August 14, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, released a video statement Thursday afternoon saying he’s staying in the race following damning allegations reported by CNN.
CNN claims that Robinson – under a username he allegedly used frequently online — made several inflammatory comments on a message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago, including one comment where he allegedly referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” ABC News has not confirmed this reporting or the online username allegedly linked to him.
Just before the story was posted, Robinson denied he made the comments and claimed the allegations were “salacious tabloid lies.”
“Let me reassure you the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in the video posted on X. “You know my words, you know my character and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
CNN reports the comments were made by Robinson between 2008 and 2012 under the username “minisoldr” on “Nude Africa,” a pornographic website that includes a message board.
CNN said it was able “to identify as Robinson by matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two,” according to the report.
CNN also reports that under the username used by Robinson on “Nude Africa,” Robinson allegedly describes a memory of “peeping” on women in the shower as a 14-year-old and allegedly also posted about watching transgender pornography. ABC News has not confirmed that the comments were made by Robinson.
ABC News has reached out to the North Carolina Republican Party and has not heard back.
CNN asked Robinson to explain all the matching details in the profile mentioned in the report. Robinson claimed, without providing evidence, that $1 million is being spent through AI to undermine him.
“I’m not going to get into the minutia of how some might manufacture this, these salacious tabloid lies, but I can tell you this: there’s been over $1 million spent on me through AI by a billionaire son who’s bound and determined to destroy me,” he said Thursday to CNN. “The things that people can do with the internet now is incredible, but what I can tell you is this, again, these are not my words.”
Robinson, who is the sitting lieutenant governor, will face off against Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the state’s current attorney general, in November.
“North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor,” Stein said in a statement Thursday. “Josh remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone.”
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(DENVER) — GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance is standing by former President Donald Trump’s false claims that Venezuelan gangs have invaded and conquered Aurora, Colorado.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang have “taken over” apartment complexes and “overrun” the city, as he did in a rally in the city on Friday.
Mike Coffman, the Republican mayor of Aurora, said Trump’s claims are “grossly exaggerated” and “have unfairly hurt the city’s identity and sense of safety.”
Asked by “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday if he supports Trump making those claims, Vance did not back down.
“Well, Martha, you just said the mayor said they were exaggerated. That means there’s got to be some element of truth here,” Vance said.”
Raddatz followed up with Vance, saying the issues in Aurora were limited to a handful of apartment complexes and that the mayor released a statement saying the city’s “dedicated police officers have acted on those concerns and will continue to do so.”
Vance responded, saying Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris caused the issues in Aurora.
“Unfortunately, when you let people in by the millions, most of whom are unvetted, most of whom you don’t know who they really are, you’re going to have problems like this.”
“Kamala Harris, 94 executive orders that undid Donald Trump’s successful border policies. We knew this stuff would happen. Bragged about opening the border, and now we have the consequences, and we’re living with it. We can do so much better, but frankly, we’re not going to do better, Martha, unless Donald Trump calls this stuff out. I’m glad that he did.”
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of states in the southeastern U.S., including Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia, Trump has falsely suggested that aid from FEMA meant for the hurricane was going to migrants and that the federal government is going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.
Asked if he believed that true, Vance defended the president.
“What the President said is that fundamentally, FEMA aid is distracted by going to illegal migrants,” Vance responded. “We’ve got Republican congressmen who are on the ground who represent that area saying that they have to call the White House to get food and water to FEMA? I don’t, frankly, think there’s anything malicious going on here, Martha, but I do think that we’ve had an incompetent response to this particular crisis, particularly in Western North Carolina, which, to be fair, was hit harder than a lot of us expected it.”
Vance called the federal government’s response to the crisis incompetent, saying members of the military are still “trickling” into western North Carolina.
Raddatz pushed back against the false claims that the government is not assisting people in Republican areas and citing Pentagon officials who said that active duty troops were staged and ready to go before being called upon and were instantly out the door.
On Friday in Georgia, Vance said that the attorney general is the second-most important government role after the president.
Raddatz pressed Vance if Trump would go after his political opponents if he won another term.
“No, he was president for four years, and he didn’t go after his political opponents. You know, who did go after her political opponents? Kamala Harris, who has tried to arrest everything from pro-life activists to her political opponents,” Vance said.
To follow up, Raddatz told Vance that Trump has said in the past that those who have cheated will be prosecuted.
“Well, he said that people who violated our election laws will be prosecuted. I think that’s the administration of law,” Vance said. “He didn’t say people are going to go to jail because they disagree with me.”
Vance continues to refuse to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election. In an interview with “This Week” earlier this year, Vance said he wouldn’t have certified the results of the 2020 race until states submitted pro-Trump electors.
Raddatz pressed Vance again on the 2020 election.
“In interview after interview, question after question, and in the debate, you refuse to say that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election,” Raddatz said. “So I’m just going to assume that if I ask you 50 times whether he lost the election, you would not acknowledge that he did. Is that correct?”
“Martha, you’ve you asked this question. I’ve been asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks. Of course, Donald Trump and I believe there were problems in 2020,” Vance said.
Pressed again by Raddatz, Vance replied, “I’ve said repeatedly I think the 2020 election had problems. You want to say rigged? You want to say he won? Use whatever vocabulary term you want.”
