The apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump sent shock waves through the geo-political biosphere, as U.S. leaders chimed in to condemn the attack.
Shortly after the shooting on Saturday evening, President Joe Biden addressed the nation and said that “everybody must condemn” the events that took place, the Associated Press reported.
Showing support for Trump's recovery after his injuries at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally, Biden spoke with a teleprompter and said “The idea that there’s violence in America like this is just unheard of.” In a White House Press Release, the president was able to confirm that Trump is “safe and doing well.” He added that the nation must unite in its condemnation of what happened.
A White House official told NBC News that a call between Biden and Trump after the rally shooting was “good, short and respectful.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also shunned the “senseless shooting” that took place, saying that there is simply no place for it. “We must all condemn this abhorrent act and do our part to ensure that it does not lead to more violence,” she wrote in a White House Press Release.
Sympathies and well-wishes echoed amongst Democrats and Republicans alike, Reuters reported.
Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed that he was “horrified by what happened at the Trump rally,” adding that “Political violence has no place in our country.”
Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson offered prayers for Trump and gratitude to the law enforcement at the scene. “This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” he said.
Republican U.S. Senator J.D. Vance — one of Trump’s possible running mates — blamed President Biden, to an extent. "Today is not just some isolated incident,” he said. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."
On Sunday, a traditionally mum Melania Trump issued a statement of her own regarding her husband's harrowing campaign event, saying, "America, the fabric of our gentle nation is tattered, but our courage and common sense must ascend and bring us back together as one."
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