A number of President Donald Trump’s potential vice presidential picks weighed in Saturday evening on news that a shooter apparently attempted to assassinate the presidential candidate.
“Today is not just some isolated incident,” said Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance in a statement posted on X.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” he added. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said in a statement posted to X that he is praying for Trump and everyone at the Pennsylvania rally.
“May God watch over them all,” he said.
Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio similarly said that he was praying for Trump, tweeting: “God protected President Trump.”
Rubio repeatedly criticized media for their coverage of the attempted assassination on Saturday evening, pointing to CNN’s cautious framing that failed to mention the loud gunshots: “Donald Trump is rushed off stage by Secret Service during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.”
And Doug Burgum, the sitting Republican governor of North Dakota, said in an X post, “We all know President Trump is stronger than his enemies. Today he showed it.”
The potential vice presidential picks’ remarks come after shots rang out at a Trump rally on Saturday night in Pennsylvania. Photos of the incident show a bloodied Trump defiantly raising a fist in the air. Fox News reported as of 8 p.m. on Saturday that the gunman was dead and two others had been injured and taken to a Pittsburgh hospital. Butler is about 33 miles north of Pittsburgh.
The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told ABC News that Trump is under observation, but in “good spirits” and is “never going to stop.”
“An incident occurred the evening of July 13 at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania,” the Secret Service said in a statement on Saturday evening. “The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available.”
Trump’s speech began around 6 p.m. Shortly afterward, video footage shows, the former president appeared to fall to the ground, or duck below his lectern, following the sound of gunshots, and the Secret Service swarmed around him before leading him offstage and into a vehicle.
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