Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seen with a bloody face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.
Rebecca Droke | AFP | Getty Images
World leaders have come together to condemn the assassination of former US President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Trump was hit in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. The suspected shooter, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was quickly killed by Secret Service agents at the scene.
One bystander was also killed, while two other spectators were seriously injured.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said he was “disgusted by the shooting” and sent his condolences to Trump and other Americans.
European leaders from G-20 countries such as Germany, France, Italy have expressed their concern and best wishes to Trump. The newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer said he was “horrified by the shocking scenes” at the protest, adding that “political violence of any kind has no place in our society”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that the assassination was “a tragedy for our democracy” and that his country “shares the outrage of the American people”.
In Asia, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a declare that President Xi Jinping expressed sympathy for Trump, while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed the importance of firmly opposing violence that challenges democracy.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — the call Trump “my friend”” — said he “strongly condemned” the incident and that “violence has no place in politics and democracy”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterated the same and said the Pennsylvania campaign event was “disturbing and controversial.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “Russia always condemns any manifestations of violence” according to Reutersare said to blame the US government for creating the environment that provoked the attack.
In the United States, both Republicans and Democrats jointly condemned the attack and expressed good wishes to the former president.
In an Oval Office address on Sunday evening, President Joe Biden stressed the importance of cooling down US politics and urged Americans to remember: “We are not enemies. We are neighbors, we are friends, we are colleagues, we are citizens and most importantly, we are fellow Americans.”
“The political situation in this country has become very tense. It’s time to cool down. We all have a responsibility to do that,” Biden said in his speech.
“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy. It’s part of human nature. Politics should never be a battlefield and, God forbid, a killing field,” he said, adding that he had called Trump, who was recovering well.
Vice president Kamala Harris posted on X on Sunday, saying that violence like this “has no place in our nation” and that this “heinous act” must be condemned to ensure it does not happen again.
Her words were identical to those of the former President. Barack Obama who said there was “absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy” as he wished Trump a speedy recovery.
