Global condemnation and consternation over the attack on Trump

Madrid, Jul 14 (EFE).- Authorities and leaders from around the world expressed their condemnation and dismay on Sunday over the attack once morest former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who was injured in the right ear in a shooting that occurred shortly following he began his speech at a rally in Pennsylvania.

The attack left one attendee dead and two others in the audience seriously injured. The FBI identified the shooter as a white male named Thomas Mathiew Crooks, in his 20s, who was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
Violence has “no place” in democracy

Most European leaders agreed that violence is “unacceptable” in a democracy, and expressed their solidarity with Trump, wishing him a speedy recovery.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned the attack on the former US president and stressed that violence and hatred “have no place in a democracy.” “I want to express my strongest condemnation of the attack suffered by Donald Trump,” he posted on social media X.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed similar opinions, stating that “political violence is absolutely unacceptable in a democracy”. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, expressed her “deep dismay” at the attack.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the attack and the “political violence” and recalled that the countries of the Atlantic Alliance “are united to defend” “freedom” and common “values.”

One of the European leaders who used the strongest language was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who described the attack on the American as “despicable” and said that “violent acts like this threaten democracy.”

French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his opinion, calling the assassination attempt on the former US president “a tragedy” for democracies and wishing the Republican candidate a “quick recovery.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his “shock” at the attack and condemned “all forms of political violence” in his first reaction to the attack. From Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hoped that the “coming months of the election campaign can see dialogue and responsibility prevail over hatred and violence” in the US.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed the sentiments of Europeans, declaring himself “sick” by the attack and insisting that political violence “is never acceptable.”

Russia urges US to ‘control’ its policy of stoking hatred

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed “relief” that Trump’s life is not in danger, and has joined those who believe that “such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world.”

Moscow, for its part, urged the US to “control its policy of fanning hatred once morest political opponents, other countries and peoples, and sponsoring terrorism,” while recommending Washington spend its money on ensuring its internal security instead of financing Kiev.

Beijing’s reaction was more restrained. China’s Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement that it was “concerned” by the shooting and expressed “its sympathy” for Trump.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the other hand, used the condemnation of the attack to hope that the investigations would be carried out in an “effective” manner so as “not to cast a shadow over the American elections and global stability.”

Solidarity and condemnation from Latin America

Chilean President Gabriel Boric expressed his “unqualified” condemnation of what happened and recalled that “violence is a threat to democracies and weakens our life together.”

Claudia Sheinbaum, president-elect of Mexico, joined Trump’s wishes for a speedy recovery and stressed that “peace and democracy must always be the option”

The governments of Colombia and Peru agreed to “strongly” condemn the attack, which they consider an “attack on democracy,” while the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, repudiated the attack and wished “health and a long life” to Trump, whom he recognized as his political “adversary.”

From Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that the attack must be “vehemently repudiated by all defenders of democracy and dialogue in politics” and that attacks such as the one suffered by the American politician are “unacceptable.”

In more aggressive terms, the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, blamed the “desperation of the international left” for the attack once morest Trump, since in his opinion his interest in “imposing his retrograde and authoritarian agenda” leads him to resort to “terrorism,” and cited as an example the “COWARDLY (sic) assassination attempt” once morest the former US president.