Condemnation of Trump rally shooting crosses party lines, and blame game and calls for probe begin

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as some international friends and foes, expressed shock and relief Saturday night after an apparent assassination attempt at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers from both parties promised hearings and a comprehensive investigation into the attack.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said there would be hearings to investigate what happened. “We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from (the Department of Homeland Security) and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP,” Johnson said.

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement that there were many questions to be answered. “I have already contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will send a formal invitation soon.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., suggested on X that the Senate might hold similar hearings. “It’s a wonder Donald Trump is alive. Let’s call this what it was. An assassination attempt with at least one innocent bystander murdered. The nation needs to know who did this. And why. And we need a full, public investigation by Congress into HOW it happened,” Hawley posted.

Notable officials, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, praised the fast action of the Secret Service and expressed gratitude that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared to be OK.

“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,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those in attendance at the former President’s rally today are unharmed.”

Pelosi’s husband was bludgeoned with a hammer in 2022 by a man who broke into their home.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said he had spoken to his father on the phone and “he is in great spirits.” “He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him,” Trump Jr. said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X: “Sara and I were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump. We pray for his safety and speedy recovery.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has an adversarial relationship with Trump, said during a campaign event broadcast on state television that he wished Trump a speedy recovery: “May God bless the people of the United States and give them peace and tranquility. We have been adversaries, but I wish President Trump health and long life, and I repudiate that attack.”

Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor in the White House, shared the views of others who have held the presidency, writing on social media: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. 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. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.”

President Joe Biden said: “There’s no place in America for this type of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick.”

Bush praised the Secret Service for their “speedy response” to the violence. “Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life,” Bush wrote on X.

The messages of concern and relief were mixed with accusations that Biden was responsible and at least one call that the criminal cases against Trump be stopped.

Trump was convicted in New York in May on 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. He is awaiting trials in federal courts in Washington, D.C., and state court in Georgia on allegations of plotting to overturn a lost election, and a federal case in Florida that accuses him of illegally stowing classified documents at his Florida estate.

Posting on X, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee called for “President Biden to immediately order that all federal criminal charges against President Trump be dropped, and to ask the governors of New York and Georgia to do the same.”

Republican House member, Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, laid the blame on Biden, saying, “The Republican District Attorney in Butler County, PA, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Collins, a freshman member of Congress from a district east of Atlanta, has a history of provocative social media statements.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who has been identified as a potential vice presidential running mate for Trump, said on X that the violence was “not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

_____

Associated Press writers Bill Barrow, Nicholas Riccardi, Hannah Schoenbaum, Stefanie Dazio, Jeff Amy, Jill Colvin, Yuri Kateyama, Farnoush Amiri and Jorge Rueda contributed to this report.