‘This cannot happen’: Officials seek answers after Trump assassination attempt
President Joe Biden ordered an independent review of the security measures in place at a Pennsylvania rally where former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear during an attempted assassination, the president said Sunday.
Biden, who repeated his earlier calls for unity, said he directed the Secret Service to provide Trump with “every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety.”
The president said he would address the nation from the Oval Office Sunday evening.
“I’ve directed an independent review of national security at yesterday's rally to assess exactly what happened. And we'll share the results of that independent review with the American people,” Biden said. “We must unite as one nation and demonstrate who we are.”
The shooting in Pennsylvania killed one person and injured two others. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear while he spoke on stage, leaving his face bloodied. The former president’s campaign confirmed he was “fine” and had been evaluated at a medical facility.
Officials in Arizona condemned political violence immediately after the attack and said they would pray for the former president and victims of the shooting.
Trump called for unity in a series of posts on Truth Social on Sunday, and former First Lady Melania Trump issued a statement that said “let us reunite.”
“It is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump wrote online, adding that “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
The FBI is leading an investigation into the attack, Biden said during brief remarks from the White House. The probe was in its early stages and the motivation of the shooter was not known. Biden said the investigation should be “thorough and swift,” and added that he has directed the head of the Secret Service to review “all security measures” in place for the Republican National Convention that begins Monday in Milwaukee.
“Mr. Trump is a former president, the nominee of the Republican Party, already receives a heightened level of security, and I’ve been consistent in my direction of the Secret Service to provide him with every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety," Biden said.
Gallego joins calls by shocked officials seeking answers
Joining the chorus of officials seeking answers after an assassination attempt at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally, Rep. Ruben Gallego sent a letter to U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that raised questions about how a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man could fire an AR-style weapon at the former president and presumptive Republican nominee.
Secret Service agents responsible for the “failed security plan” that led to an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump should be “held accountable” and appear before Congress for a hearing, the Democratic lawmaker said in a letter.
“How was President Trump, one of only six living current or former presidents and a current major presidential candidate, almost assassinated, and what needs to change?” Gallego wrote. “This was a security failure at the highest level, not seen since the attempted assassination of President Reagan. This cannot happen, and I demand accountability.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and the House Oversight and Homeland Security Committees said Saturday that they would investigate and call Cheatle and leaders of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security before Congress for a hearing.
The FBI is spearheading an investigation into the deadly shooting.
Gallego asked the Secret Service director if the Trump campaign or his Secret Service detail requested additional protection or resources for his Butler rally, and whether those resources were denied.
“Yesterday’s incident, which led to the tragic death of an onlooker and several injuries, including to President Trump, raises grave concerns regarding the security measures – or lack thereof – that were taken to protect a former President of the United States and a Major Presidential Candidate,” Gallego wrote in the letter. “I call on all those responsible for the planning, approving, and executing of this failed security plan to be held accountable and to testify before Congress immediately.”
The Democratic congressman is seeking the name of the person who approved the security plan for the event and questioned whether law enforcement conducted a “proper threat assessment” of nearby buildings. The gunman attacked the rally from the roof of a building some 150 yards away, outside the rally's security perimeter.
Gallego also questioned whether attendees of the event raised “any alarms.” A rallygoer interviewed by the BBC said that he witnessed the shooter climb to the roof of the building with a gun and tried to alert law enforcement. Gallego asked if there were any “failures in protocol that enabled the shooting” and whether the Secret Service would reconsider its denial of protection to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Gosar, Biggs blame Biden and Democrats
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar placed blame for the attack on Biden and Democrats in Congress in his weekly newsletter. Gosar pointed to Biden’s recent comment to donors that “we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bull's-eye.”
Gosar also criticized lawmakers who support legislation that would remove Secret Service protection from anyone convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison and raised concerns that Trump should have had more protection on Saturday.
“The constant comparisons of President Trump to Hitler and the repeated calls from over the last several years for stabbing, killing, poisoning, decapitating, or shooting President Trump serve as dog whistles to provoke and incite violence and very well may have fueled this assassination attempt,” Gosar said.
“Let me be perfectly clear: there is absolutely no place for this sort of incendiary rhetoric and calls for violence in politics today and everyone must condemn it.”
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs also pointed to Democrats as having inspired the violence, although Biden said Sunday the motivation of the shooter and his political affiliations were not known.
Biggs shared a video compilation of Democrats, celebrities and media personalities using heated rhetoric about Trump. “I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,” Madonna says in one clip.
“With the Democrats’ violent rhetoric, it was only a matter of time before an assassination attempt took place. They’ve endangered the life of every Republican and every American,” Biggs said. “Their calls for lowering the temperature mean nothing until mean until they do the same.”
'It doesn't have to be this way,' Sinema says
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who left the Democratic Party in 2022, said in a post on X “what should never have become normal is the demonization of others’ viewpoints, and worse, each other as humans.”
The Arizona lawmaker said she has been "saying this into the wind for nearly 20 years" and the "climate has gotten worse'" and more extreme over that time. Pointing to “extreme rhetoric from electeds,” she said the country deserves better.
When she left the Democratic Party two years ago, Sinema shared concerns about both parties pulling people to the political edges.
“It’s not ok to hate each other because we have different views. It’s not ok to use violent and extreme language about each other. It’s not ok to say the future of our world depends on defeating each other,” Sinema said. "It doesn’t have to be this way. We get to choose what we say and how we behave. We can do better. We should, for our country.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Biden, lawmakers seek answers after Trump assassination attempt
