President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden issued statements within minutes of each other regarding the deadly vehicle attack in New Orleans early Wednesday morning with two starkly contrasting messages regarding the attack that is now being investigated as a terrorist incident.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his incoming administration will “fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil,” adding that crime in the United States is “at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”
“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump wrote as the first line of his Truth Social statement on the attack.
At approximately 3:15 a.m. local time, a perpetrator drove a white pickup truck with a Texas license plate into a crowd at the city’s tourist center on Bourbon Street. As of the time of this report, more than 30 injuries and 10 deaths have been reported.
Federal law enforcement sources have told reporters that the truck came through Eagle Pass, Texas, a hub for border traffic with Mexico, two days ago.
People on social media, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have called for the immediate release of the identity of the perpetrator, who law enforcement confirmed is deceased after an altercation with police.
Experts suggest the attack may have been a thoroughly planned effort, as Bourbon Street has a protocol to allow service vehicles to enter the pedestrian street in the early hours of the morning to serve the various bars, restaurants, and hotels on the tourist thoroughfare.
“Biden’s parting gift to America — migrant terrorists,” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X Wednesday morning.
Shortly after Trump’s social media post, Biden issued a statement saying he has “been continually briefed since early this morning” by federal law enforcement and his homeland security team.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities,” Biden said in his press statement.
Biden also said he would have more to say as the day goes on and would continue to “ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind.”
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Law enforcement officials are on heightened alert after the attack, considering that the Sugar Bowl college football game is scheduled to be played at Caesars Superdome on Wednesday evening within a mile radius of the terrorist event.
The Sugar Bowl Committee has yet to issue a statement regarding whether the game will go on as scheduled.
