Blame game for Trump rally shooting and calls for investigation begin

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

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said there would be hearings to investigate the incidents. “We will invite Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other relevant officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to a hearing before our committees as soon as possible,” Johnson said.

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) said in a statement that there are still many questions to be answered. “I have already asked the Secret Service for a briefing and am also calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for a hearing. The Oversight Committee will send out a formal invitation shortly.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) suggested on X that the Senate could hold similar hearings. “It’s a miracle that Donald Trump is still alive. Let’s call it what it is. An assassination attempt that left at least one innocent bystander murdered. The nation needs to know who did this. And why. And we need a full, public congressional investigation into HOW it happened,” Hawley wrote.

Notable officials, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, praised the Secret Service’s quick action and expressed gratitude that the likely Republican presidential nominee appears to be doing well.

“As someone whose family has been a 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 horrific incident, let us pray that all who attended the former President’s rally today remain unharmed.”

Pelosi’s husband was killed 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 was 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 Nicolás Maduro, who has a hostile relationship with Trump, said during a campaign rally on state television that he wished Trump a speedy recovery: “May God bless the people of the United States and grant them peace and tranquility. We were adversaries, but I wish President Trump health and a long life and reject this attack.”

Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor in the White House, shared the views of other former presidents, writing on social media: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. While we do not yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump was not seriously injured and use this moment to recommit ourselves to decency and respect in our politics. Michelle and I wish him a speedy recovery.”

President Joe Biden said: “There is no place for this kind of violence in America. It is sick. It is sick.”

Bush praised the Secret Service for its “quick response” to the violence. “Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe after the cowardly attempt 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 to drop the criminal proceedings against Trump.

Trump was found guilty in New York in May on 34 counts of illegally influencing the 2016 election by paying hush money to a porn star who claimed the two had sex. He is awaiting trial in federal courts in Washington, DC, and a state court in Georgia. He is accused of overturning a lost election. He is also charged in a federal case in Florida alleging that he illegally planted classified documents at his Florida estate.

In a post on X, Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee called on “President Biden to immediately order that all federal criminal charges against President Trump be dropped and to urge the governors of New York and Georgia to do the same.”

Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia blamed Biden, saying, “The Republican district attorney in Butler County, Pennsylvania, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for incitement to assassinate.” Collins, a new member of Congress from a district east of Atlanta, has a history of making provocative statements on social media.

Ohio Senator JD Vance, who is considered a possible vice presidential candidate for Trump, said on X that the violence was “not an 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. This rhetoric led directly to the attempted assassination of President Trump.”