Melania Trump on how she and her son’s lives were on the ‘brink of devastating change’
Former first lady Melania Trump has released a statement following the assassination attempt on her husband, former President Trump, at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, blasting the shooter as a “monster” and calling for the country to “reunite.”
She said the gunman was “a monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine” who attempted to “ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration.”
She said she looked on in horror as the shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, allegedly tried to take out her husband during the event.
“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” Trump wrote, adding that her husband is a generous and caring man.
SHOOTING AT TRUMP RALLY BEING INVESTIGATED AS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
She paid tribute to Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials who “risked their own lives” to protect her husband, and honored the victims, including one person who was fatally struck.
“To the families of the innocent victims who are now suffering from this heinous act, I humbly offer my sincerest sympathy. Your need to summon your inner strength for such a terrible reason saddens me.”
BIDEN SPOKE WITH TRUMP FOLLOWING SHOOTING AT PENNSYLVANIA RALLY
The former first lady has stayed off the campaign trail so far this year but is expected to attend the Republican National Convention this week. Barron Trump appeared at his father’s rally in Doral, Florida, on Tuesday, where he stood for a sustained applause amid praise from his father.
Melania said in her statement that America is a unique nation and that courage and common sense must ascend and “bring us back together as one.”
“I am thinking of you, now, my fellow Americans,” she wrote.
“Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now.”
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She went on to say that the nation must “ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence.”
“We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends.”
“We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again.”
“The winds of change have arrived. For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide – thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.”
Steve Scalise calls out left’s ‘hyper-charged’ violent rhetoric, offers solution
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise blamed the left and the media’s rhetoric for energizing the suspected Trump shooter, as well as his own gunman during the congressional baseball shooting, on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” He called the former president “strong” and commended him for “fighting for a movement.”
SPLIT-SECOND TURN COULD HAVE SAVED TRUMP’S LIFE, EXPERT SAYS: ‘GOD MUST HAVE BEEN WATCHING DOWN ON’ HIM
STEVE SCALISE:
TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING: 5 KEY DETAILS SO FAR
An attempted assassination of former President Trump took place on Saturday in Pennsylvania, shocking the world as the presumptive Republican nominee escaped death by what seemed like inches.
Trump was led offstage from the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally with blood pouring from his right ear, but not before raising his fist and gesturing to the crowd in defiance.
Information about the shooting was scarce and highly subject to distortion in the immediate aftermath — but as time passed, key details have been confirmed.
Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as 20-year-old Pennsylvania native Thomas Matthew Crooks, who lived approximately an hour away from the rally site in Bethel Park, according to Reuters.
FLASHBACK: Dem said it was ‘necessary’ to strip Trump of Secret Service detail
House Democrats have introduced a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons sentenced to prison, a move directly targeting former President Trump who is currently on criminal trial in New York City for alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 election campaign and faces several other cases which could land him behind bars.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the former chair of the now disbanded Jan. 6 congressional committee, introduced legislation that would automatically nix Secret Service protection for those who have been convicted of a federal or state felony that carries a minimum one-year prison term.
The proposed bill is provocatively called the “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees Act.
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“Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentence of a protected – even a former President,” Thompson said in a statement.
“It is regrettable that it has come to this, but this previously unthought-of scenario could become our reality.”
A so-called “fact sheet” accompanying Thompson’s statement notes that Trump is facing an “unprecedented 91 felony charges in federal and state courts” which have “created a new exigency that Congress must address to ensure Secret Service protection does not interfere with the criminal judicial process and the administration of justice.”
The one-page document also states that the bill would apply to former President Trump should he be convicted of a felony, as well as to all Secret Service protectees convicted and sentenced under felony charges.
It notes that current law does not contemplate how Secret Service security would be administered to a protectee serving jail time and it therefore may pose logistical difficulties for both the Secret Service and prison authorities.
TWO SEATED JURORS DISMISSED AS SELECTION PROCESS CONTINUES FOR DAY 3 OF TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL
The proposed bill, Thompson says, would avoid such complications with incarcerating former President Trump should he be ordered to serve jail time.
“Therefore, it is necessary for us to be prepared and update the law so the American people can be assured that protective status does not translate into special treatment – and that those who are sentenced to prison will indeed serve the time required of them,” Thompson said.
It would also address suggestions that any potential conviction of Trump would likely result in some form of home confinement rather than prison time, given his Secret Service protection.
“This bill would remove the potential for conflicting lines of authority within prisons and allow judges to weigh the sentencing of individuals without having to factor in the logistical concerns of convicts with Secret Service protection,” the document states.
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Secret Service protection is afforded to current presidents and their family members as well as former presidents and other high level officials. Protection was expanded to major party presidential nominees following the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, although his son has not been provided with Secret Service protection for his 2024 independent run.
As well as the hush money trial, Trump is charged in Georgia with trying to overturn the 2020 election in a racketeering case. He also has upcoming trials in Florida over his alleged hoarding of classified White House documents and in Washington, D.C., where he is accused of conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Former DOJ chief says Democrats had a hand in spurring Trump’s shooting
Former Attorney General William Barr told Fox News that “the Democrats have to stop their grossly irresponsible talk about Trump being an existential threat to democracy. He is not.”
The statement came just hours after a would-be assassin shot at former President Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Republicans lost no time tying the attack to rhetoric from Democrats accusing Trump of being authoritarian, a dictator or anti-democracy.
LIVE UPDATES ON DEADLY SHOOTING AT TRUMP RALLY
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, a contender for Trump’s running mate, after the attack posted on X, “Today is 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.”
President Biden came under scrutiny after the shooting for remarks he made to donors on July 8, in which he said “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” Politico reported.
FORMER AG BARR RIPS ‘POLITICAL’ TRUMP HUSH MONEY CASE, SAYS ‘REAL THREAT’ TO DEMOCRACY IS PROGRESSIVE LEFT
On Saturday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris said on X that she would be attending a town hall “to discuss what’s at stake this election and the clear threat the former president represents to our democracy.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., implied on July 11 that Trump supporters pose a threat to Americans, saying, “They’re saying it straight to your face: If you can disagree with Donald Trump, watch your back. It’s bone-chilling. It’s un-American. It’s dangerous for our democracy.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on July 8 that Biden and Democrats will keep defending democracy “at home and abroad,” saying, “We must overcome threats from MAGA Republicans as we fight to protect our freedoms, strengthen alliances and advance opportunity and dignity for all.”
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Barr served as Trump’s attorney general from February 2019 until his resignation in December 2020. Despite the sometimes acrimonious relationship between Trump and Barr, the former attorney general has endorsed Trump for president and has said that the real threat to democracy is the “excesses of the progressive left.”
CNN host scolds Trump for his words moments after suspect tried to kill him
A CNN correspondent criticized former President Trump for yelling “fight!” to his supporters in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s stunning assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
Trump could be seen bleeding from his ear as he was hustled off stage Saturday evening, shortly after a gunman opened fire at his rally. As Secret Service agents moved him away once the shooter had been killed, Trump raised his fist and yelled “fight!” repeatedly, to roars of appreciation from his supporters.
CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel suggested the presumptive Republican nominee was sending the wrong message.
“I do want to say there was one thing that when I watched the tape, I found odd because of all of the heated rhetoric, and that is after he was hit, former President Trump got up and said, ‘fight, fight, fight,’” Gangel said.
“I think what we’re hearing from people is that’s not the message that we want to be sending right now. We want to tamp it down,” she said.
SHOOTING AT TRUMP RALLY BEING INVESTIGATED AS POSSIBLE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Gangel’s remarks drew criticism from some conservatives, many of whom were elated at Trump’s defiance at the moment. The perpetrator killed at least one attendee and critically injured two others, according to reports.
CBS host Margaret Brennan similarly chided Trump on Saturday for not urging his supporters to lower the political “temperature” in his social media statement, where he expressed condolences for the other victims and thanked law enforcement for their swift response.
Trump was discharged from a Pittsburgh-area hospital late Saturday and is now safe.
After addressing the nation and condemning the “sick” attack, President Biden spoke to Trump on the phone. Other former presidents and bipartisan voices have also condemned the shooting and wished Trump a speedy recovery.
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