Nation outraged after assassination attempt on Trump

Leaders across the nation expressed bipartisan outrage and many extended prayers to those involved in what law enforcement officials confirmed is being investigated as an attempt to assassinate presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump during a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

Bleeding from the ear, the former president walked off the stage with his fist raised, shouting “Fight!” to the crowd. U.S. Secret Service agents assisted him into a black SUV.

Some fired-up politicians and pundits used it as a moment to cast blame, while others called for answers on how the shooter avoided security until after the gunfire and an extremism researcher warned about how Trump supporters on the far right might interpret that fight now in light of the graphic images.

The U.S. Secret Service said in a statement that a suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage. The shooter died and a spectator was also killed. Two other spectators were wounded and in critical condition, according to the agency.

A Trump spokesperson said the former president was “fine” but went to a nearby medical facility to be examined by doctors.

Trump was scheduled to formally accept the nomination to run for a second term in the White House during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on social media platform X that he had been briefed and Pennsylvania State Police were working with federal and local law enforcement. Shapiro called any violence targeting either political party or leader “absolutely unacceptable.”

“Lori and I are praying for President Trump, the Secret Service officers who protected him, those attending the event, and all of the first responders still on the scene,” Shapiro wrote.

President Joe Biden, who was in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, issued a statement confirming he also had been briefed and expressed gratitude that Trump was safe and doing well.

“I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” Biden said in the statement. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”

The president’s campaign said it was pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down all of its television ads as quickly as possible following the shooting.

In Milwaukee, it wasn’t immediately clear if there would be any changes to schedules or security for the RNC, which started Monday.

The Trump campaign released a statement late Saturday saying: “President Trump looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him to serve as the 47th President of the United States. As our party’s nominee, President Trump will continue to share his vision to Make America Great Again.”

More than 50,000 politicians, delegates and media personnel were expected to flow into Milwaukee for the convention, where Republicans plan to formally nominate Trump for president.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is attending the convention as an at-large delegate, issued a statement Saturday night saying she is committed to attending the gathering in Milwaukee.

“As President Trump showed when he walked off the stage, we will not cower to such terror,” she said. “I will be in Milwaukee this week and will proudly stand with him and our party. America will get through this, together, and President Trump will lead us into the next four years.”

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is on the short list of those being considered by Trump for the vice president spot on the ticket, wrote that: “God protected President Trump.”

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he and his wife Casey DeSantis were “praying for Donald Trump and his family.”

Larry Olmstead, president and CEO of United Way of Northern California, said he was “horrified and sickened” by the gun violence at the rally.

“All of us, regardless of political affiliation or leanings, should be grateful Mr. Trump was not more seriously injured,” Olmstead said. “I pray for all others affected in this incident that reportedly resulted in loss of life. What is saddest is that the incident is not altogether surprising, given the toxicity of our current political climate.”

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was in the front row at Trump’s rally Saturday in rural Pennsylvania when gunfire burst out, saying he heard as many as eight shots and saw a woman nearby who appeared to have been struck by gunfire.

“At first, I didn’t know what it was,” Miller told the American-Statesman by phone from the outdoor venue. “Then I heard ‘pop! pop!’ and knew it was gunfire. Everybody got down, but I stayed standing up to try to see what was going on.”

Miller said that he was not harmed and did not know the condition of the woman who appeared to have been hit.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted a defiant message on X soon afterward, associating the attack with the criminal charges prosecutors have brought against Trump.

“They try to jail him. They try to kill him. It will not work,” Abbott posted. “He is indomitable.”

Jon Lewis, a research fellow for George Washington University’s extremism program, said the incident will likely inflame Trump supporters on the far right.

“You cannot overstate how powerful this imagery is,” Lewis said of the still images and video from the shooting that show a bloodied Trump with his fist in the air.

“The right-wing online ecosystem is already calling this a Democratic attack on Trump, saying that their followers need to be ready to fight,” he said.

Internet personality and founder of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk’s post on social media platform X said the shooting was “the end result” of rhetoric from the left.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also took to X to blame “the Democrats and the media” for Saturday’s events, also while calling supporters to action.

Lewis said it’s too early to know exactly how the RNC will be affected.

“But the call to fight is a message that these right-wing groups will respond to in their local communities and within their states, even if not at the national level,” Lewis said.

The Republican Party of Florida posted a photo of Trump, bleeding from his right ear, with his fist in the air and “TRUMP STRONG” in white, capital letters above the frame.

“This will not stop us. We will prevail! We will Make America Great Again. #TrumpStrong,” read the text along with the image.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., demanded answers from the head of the Secret Service.

“I am so thankful for the heroic agents who rushed in to protect President Trump. They are heroes!” he wrote. “The Director of the Secret Service needs to come out ASAP and let us know how this happened and how everyone at the RNC and DNC conventions will be safe.”

Contributing: Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register; John C. Moritz and Bayliss Wagner, Austin American-Statesman; Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight. Antonio Fins writes for the Palm Beach Post. Jo Ciavaglia wrotes for the Bucks County Courier Times. Hannah Edelman writes for the Delaware News Journal. Alison Dirr, Mary Spicuzza, Ricardo Torres and Quinn Clark write for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Nation outraged after assassination attempt on Trump