Trump world immediately reacted in statements to The Daily Caller to the apparent assassination attempt on the former president during a Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
With blood on his face, Donald Trump was rushed off the rally stage by United States Secret Service after what appeared to be multiple rounds of gunfire heard among the noise of the crowd. Trump allies told The Daily Caller the attack on the former president was “practically inevitable,” condemning the attack as “sickening” and “disgusting.”
“Obviously, we don’t know anything about the shooter yet, but they’ve tried everything at this point to get rid of [Trump]. I don’t think anyone is surprised by this at all, and to watch Donald Trump get shot at, stand up, fist pump in the air, shows you this guy is an effing gangster,” former Trump administration deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told The Daily Caller. (RELATED: Trump Apparently Wounded, 2 Reported Dead In Rally Shooting)
“He’s not going to quit. You can’t stop him. He loves this country and he wants to help every American. This is one of the most egregious, disgusting, dangerous moments in our nation’s history,” Gidley told the Caller.
President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.
— Trump spokesperson @TheStevenCheung
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) July 13, 2024
As the Secret Service surrounded the bloodied president, grabbing his neck as sounds of gunfire rang out, Trump raised a fist into the air to signal to his supporters he was okay.
In the aftermath, the suspected gunman was dead and at least one rally attendee was killed, Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger told The Associated Press (AP).
“This assassination attempt follows years of escalating end-of-the-world, cataclysmic rhetoric by nearly every Democrat in this country,” Tim Murtaugh, 2020 communications director for the Trump campaign, told the Caller. “It was practically inevitable that someone would take a shot at Trump because the left has dedicated significant amounts of energy to winding up the radical fringe to viscerally hate him. There is no doubt in my mind that they contributed heavily to what happened today.”
The Trump campaign responded to the attack saying the former president is “fine” and thanking first responders for their action. Trump was reportedly taken to a local medical facility for evaluation.
“Just yesterday, Joe Biden put a post on X with just four words: ‘We must stop him.’ One day later, someone apparently has tried to follow that directive,” Murtaugh told the Caller.
We must stop him. pic.twitter.com/Y4NbdfpCVq
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 2, 2024
President Joe Biden reportedly indicated he had not heard of the incident as he was leaving church Saturday in Delaware. The White House released a statement nearly two hours after the attack on the former president. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the shooting attempt.
“I’m grateful to hear that he’s 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. 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 said in a statement.
Biden is now planning on delivering unscheduled remarks on the apparent assassination attempt.
“There are no words to describe the feelings that millions of Americans and I are feeling. To think President Donald J. Trump was inches away from being assassinated by a deranged Leftist is sickening and speaks to the threat Trump poses to his opponents. We must practically inevitable thank God for His grace over Trump’s life and the law enforcement heroes who acted as a human shield,” Harrison Fields, a surrogate with Black Americans for Trump and former White House communications staffer, told the Caller.
“President Trump, with blood dripping down his face, told us all to ‘fight, fight, fight’ and we will do that,” Fields told the Caller.
