Local Officials Response to Attack on Trump

After Saturday's attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, local officals responded:

On Saturday, U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) issued the following statement 

"Tracy and I are shocked by the news of the attack on President Trump in Pennsylvania this afternoon.  We are monitoring the situation closely and praying for the President."

On Sunday, the Effingham County Democratic Central Committee issued a statement:

"Violence is never the answer in our political discourse. It has no place in our politics, in our Democracy, and should not define us as a country.  We, in no uncertain terms, condemn the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and pray for his speedy recovery, along with the other shooting victims, and offer condolences to the families of those who died during the event.

Whatever political affiliation you may have, it is our hope that we can all step back and commit to civility in our political discourse.  We must, with all our power, resist the temptation for elevated violent rhetoric, accusations, blame, or use this tragedy to sow the seeds of hate.  Politically motivated violence is especially appalling as it tarnishes the image of our country as being the beacon of Democracy.  Those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defending our freedoms will have died in vain if we waiver from our commitment to freedom of speech for all and a commitment for tolerance of our fellow countryman."

Also on Sunday, State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) said the hatred and vitriol aimed at President Donald Trump has gone too far, stating:

“We don’t yet know the background of the shooter, which probably means the shooter is a card-carrying leftist.  But even if the person is not a leftwinger, there is one thing that is abundantly clear – the individual who shot multiple people at a political rally and tried to kill President Trump is an evil person filled with hate.  The hatred for President Trump on social media and in the mainstream media needs to stop immediately because what happened today is the end result of the hateful rhetoric.

President Trump is a candidate for office like any candidate and deserves to be treated as such.  The over-the-top rhetoric we see so often in the media and especially on social media is only serving to fuel the kind of horrific violence we witnessed on Saturday.  People should be able to go to political rallies without fear of being shot.  Presidential candidates should be able to discuss their ideas and vision for the future of this country without being fired upon for simply having an opinion.  The violent rhetoric against President Trump has gone too far.  The only positive takeaway from today is the resilience of President Trump.  He has been impeached, charged with bogus crimes, and convicted on those same bogus charges and now he has been shot but through it all he is still standing.”