JUST IN: Biden White House Condemns ‘Reprehensible’ Attack on Salman Rushdie

Tommy ChristopherAug 13th, 2022, 9:03 am

HERBERT NEUBAUER/APA/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden‘s White House has denounced the “reprehensible” attack on author Salman Rushdie, calling the violence “appalling.”

Rushdie was attacked on Friday before giving a speech at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Rushdie has spent decades under threat after Iranian leaders urged Muslims to kill the author over his writings.

Late Friday night, the White House released a statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, on behalf of the administration, denouncing the attack and offering prayers for Rushdie’s recovery:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2022

Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the Attack Against Writer Salman Rushdie

Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is appalling. All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing.

According to the latest, Mr. Rushdie is in the hospital and unable to breathe on his own. From Politico:

Renowned author Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator and may lose one eye as a result of the stabbing attack he suffered while delivering a lecture in New York on Friday.

According to the author’s agent, Andrew Wylie, the 75-year-old Indian-born novelist is unable to speak after the attack, in which he was stabbed in the neck and abdomen. As a result of the stabbing, “the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was … damaged,” Wylie said.

Mr. Rushdie survived the attack thanks to a New York State Trooper who was providing security for the event, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

“I want to commend the State Police. It was a State Police officer who stood up and saved his life,” Hochul said art a press conference Friday afternoon.