Democratic leaders tabled their harsh criticism of Donald Trump and pulled their negative political attack ads in the wake of a deadly shooting that left the former president injured at a MAGA campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” President Joe Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “It’s sick, it’s sick.”
As Biden spoke, his campaign officials announced that they were pulling their attack ads targeting Trump after chaos rained down on the event and potentially changed the trajectory of the presidential campaign.
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“The Biden campaign is pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson said.
Later in the evening, the White House said President Biden had spoken to former President Trump.
From Biden down, Democrats expressed their thoughts and prayers for Trump in the wake of the apparent assassination attempt. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety,” Biden said in a statement on X earlier. “There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “horrified by what happened” at the rally, where Trump—even as blood appeared to pool around his right ear and streak down his cheek—pumped his fist at his followers and appeared to say “fight, fight, fight” as Secret Service agents escorted him to his waiting motorcade.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed that he was thankful to federal law-enforcement agents for protecting the former president and 2024 GOP presidential aspirant. “My thoughts and prayers are with former President Trump,” Jeffries said, adding that “political violence of any kind is never acceptable.”
The shooter was dead after being “neutralized” by Secret Service personnel, the agency confirmed in a statement, adding the shooter had fired “multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position.”
The incident is being treated as a possible assassination attempt on the former president and current GOP presidential candidate, who is scheduled to accept his party’s formal nomination next week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also said, “Political violence is absolutely unacceptable. I wish Donald Trump, and anyone else who may have been hurt, a speedy recovery.”
Biden, in his brief appearance before the media in Delaware, said gun violence that erupted at Trump’s rally is “just unheard of.”
Former President Barack Obama tweeted, “Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former speaker of the House, whose husband was bludgeoned in an attack that was intended for her, tweeted, “As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”
“Hillary and I are thankful that President Trump is safe,” former President Bill Clinton said on X.
