Biden Says Shocked by 'Vicious' Attack on Author Rushdie

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, had been shocked and saddened by the "vicious" attack on famed author Salman Rushdie in New York state.

"Jill and I were shocked and saddened to learn of the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie yesterday in New York. We, together with all Americans and people around the world, are praying for his health and recovery," Biden said in a statement published by the White House.

The US leader also expressed admiration for Rushdi's "insight into humanity," his "unmatched sense for story" and "refusal to be silenced."

"Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are the building blocks of any free and open society. And today, we reaffirm our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression," Biden added.

On Friday, Rushdie was about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, when he was suddenly stabbed twice by 24-year-old man Hadi Matar. Rushdie's agent Andrew Wylie told the New York Times that the author was on a ventilator, his liver was damaged and he will likely lose an eye.

NBC News reported, citing a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation, that the preliminary review of Matar's social media showed that he had sympathies for Shia extremism and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). At the same time, the source said there were no "definitive links" to the IRGC.

Rushdie is a celebrated India-born British-American author and winner of numerous literary prizes. In 1989, Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran at that time, issued an edict calling for the killing of Rushdie, whose book "The Satanic Verses" is considered by many Muslims to be blasphemous.