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Former U.S. President Donald Trump, in the aftermath of the attempt on his life, said Sunday it was "more important than ever" that the country stood strong, determined and not allow evil to win.
"Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening," he said on his Truth Social media platform. "We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness."
Trump is set this week to be officially nominated as the Republican presidential candidate in the November 5 election against Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump said he looked forward to addressing the country on Thursday from the Republican Party's national convention in the midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Biden said Sunday, the shooting was "contrary to everything we stand for us as a nation, everything. It's not who we are as a nation. It's not American. And we cannot allow this to happen."
"We must unite as one nation," said Biden, who planned to speak more on the assassination attempt on his opponent later in the day. "We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are."
He pledged that the Secret Service would give Trump "every resource capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety."
The FBI said it has identified a suspect but had not yet established a motive for Saturday's assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The law enforcement agency said 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was the "subject involved" in the shooting. Bystanders outside the perimeter security area where Trump was speaking said they yelled at police to no avail when they spotted the gunman crawling up the roof of a nearby building with a weapon.
The gunman was able to fire multiple shots, possibly eight, hitting Trump in his right ear, killing one spectator at the rally and critically wounding two others before a Secret Service sniper killed the suspect, an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle was found near his body.
Crooks, who graduated from high school two years ago, had been working as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
He was a registered Republican. But when he was 17, Crooks also made a $15 political donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing. The donation was designated for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote.
Trump's wife, former first lady Melania Trump, who was not at the rally, said in a social media post Sunday, "A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion - his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. The core facets of my husband's life - his human side - were buried below the political machine."
She added, "For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide - thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family."
In a social media post, Trump said he was "fine." He was released from the hospital late Saturday.
The shooting incident immediately raised questions about the level of Secret Service protection provided to Trump, although the security agency rejected as "absolutely false" an assertion by some Trump supporters that the Secret Service turned down a request for more security for Trump.
"In fact, recently the U.S. Secret Service added protective resources and capabilities to the former president's security detail," an agency spokesperson said.
Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told CNN that authorities, in planning for the outdoor rally, had failed to "eliminate sightlines" to the stage where Trump spoke, either by positioning a physical barrier between the building from where the gunman fired and the rally stage or by posting law enforcement personnel nearby to block any access to the rooftop.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives said they will launch an investigation into the incident and asked Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to attend a hearing on the matter.
Alex Gray, a former official in Trump's National Security Council, said the shooting shows that Trump's Secret Service protection was "paltry compared to the threats he was facing."
Earlier Saturday, Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, told reporters that "it is surprising" that the gunman fired four or five times before he was shot dead.
Trump, who later traveled to his home in New Jersey, said in the immediate aftermath of the attack that it is "incredible that such an act can take place in our country."
Late Saturday, the White House said Biden had spoken to Trump - although it did not give details of the conversation. The administration said Biden returned to the White House early Sunday, instead of remaining in Delaware as planned.
The Biden campaign also said, in a statement, that it is "pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our (political) television ads (assailing Trump) as quickly as possible."
Analysts warned the assassination attempt could upend a fiercely fought presidential campaign and further divide American society.
"This is an exceptionally dark day in America - an exceptionally dark day in our democracy. Possibly the most serious act of political violence we've seen since 9/11 at least," said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"Today the world changed," said George Washington University professor Casey Burgat.
"There will be partisan finger-pointing about how and why this happened, but across the political spectrum, we will rightfully hear a unified rejection of all political violence. I can only hope the latter wins out," Burgat said.
VOA's Serbian Service, Katherine Gypson and Ken Bredemeier contributed to this story.