Barack Obama called for unity on Sunday following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. The 44th president said “it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy.”
“Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” he wrote on social media.
“It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day,” he concluded. “I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”
The message echoed what President Donald Trump himself said Saturday night. “We have to resolve our differences,” he told reporters. “I will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives. Those words are interchangeable, perhaps, but maybe they’re not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd, there was a record-setting group of people, and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched, I watched, and I was very, very impressed by that.”
In an interview with “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Trump recounted the moments immediately following the sound of gunshots. “Well, what happened is, it was a little bit me, I wanted to see what was happening and I wasn’t making it that easy for him,” he said in a preview clip shared by CBS. “I wanted to see what was going on.”
The alleged shooter has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, per U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. His arraignment is set for Monday, with additional charges expected to come.
