Following the attempted assassination of former Republican President Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally in Butler County, Penn., Maine politicians from both parties responded, joining in the widespread condemnation of political violence from public figures following the shooting.
[RELATED: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: Bloody Don Fist Bumps After Shooter Fires at PA Rally…]
In response to the attempt of Trump’s life, the presidential campaign of President Joe Biden also pulled down all scheduled TV and radio advertising.
“Please join me in praying for the health and safety of former President Trump, those who attended his rally today, and our country. There is absolutely no place for violence in our politics – none,” said Gov. Janet Mills (D).
Gov. Mills issued her response the evening of the attempted assassination, and, unlike many in the mainstream media, did not blame the incident on political rhetoric from both sides.
Mills did, however, avoid referring to the incident as an assassination attempt and called for an end to political violence generally without directly mentioning that Trump was shot.
A day after the shooting, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) tweeted out her take on the shooting, in which she acknowledged that it was an assassination attempt.
“The assassination attempt last night on former President Trump is horrifying and we should all be relieved he was not seriously injured. Our disagreements and differences should be expressed with votes at the ballot box, not bullets,” said Rep. Pingree on X.
While Pingree expressed happiness that Trump survived, she failed to acknowledged that one member of the crowd, Corey Comperatore, was killed while shielding his family from the shooter’s bullets.
Prior to the assassination attempt, Pingree had joined Democratic politicians in DC with hyperbolic claims that Trump was an aspiring authoritarian bent on undermining democracy.
Just two days before calling for civility and a peaceful resolution to political differences, she called for democrats to do “everything we can” to stop Trump from being re-elected.
“Donald Trump poses an existential threat to our democracy, and we must do everything we can to make sure he does not end up back in the White House. Project 2025 is a blueprint to dismantle freedoms of Americans, and consolidate power in the presidency,” said Pingree, just one day before Trump was shot.
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who has been running as a moderate Democrat in Maine’s highly competitive Second Congressional District, posted a lengthy thread about the assassination attempt and criticized the extreme political rhetoric from his fellow Democrats, while also suggesting that Republican rhetoric is also to blame for division in the country.
“We can start by dropping hyperbolic threats about the stakes of this election. It should not be misleadingly portrayed as a struggle between democracy or authoritarianism, or a battle against fascists or socialists bent on destroying America. These are dangerous lies,” said Golden on X.
Golden condemned the Democrats, like Pingree, who have claimed that democracy is at stake, and who have accused Trump of planning to institute a fascist, authoritarian regime.
He also called the Republican suggestion that Democrats are socialists a “dangerous lie,” despite many mainstream Democrats openly praising socialism, while no mainstream Republicans openly call for fascism.
State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent), who is running for Golden’s congressional seat, posted a much shorter statement, also calling for unity.
“My family and I are praying for President Trump, everyone at the rally, our law enforcement, and for our country. This is a dark day in U.S history and I am hopeful it will serve as a wake-up call. Our country needs to unite and come together,” said Theriault.
Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, also weighed in on the incident, praising the Secret Service response, while broadly condemning political violence and avoiding the word “assassination.”
“Thanks to the quick action of the Secret Service, I am glad to hear former President Trump is safe and wish him a speedy recovery. We can disagree on politics, but political violence of any kind is wrong and antithetical to the core American values we believe in,” said Sen. King.
King praised the Secret Service for “quick action” despite numerous reports from rally attendees who claimed that they told agents about the shooter crawling on a nearby building minutes before he opened fire on Trump.
[RELATED: U.S. Secret Service’s Failure, Sluggish Response to Trump Assassination Attempt Raise Concerns…]
After the assassination attempt, numerous details emerged which suggested gross misconduct from the Secret Service, who failed to post an agent on the tallest building in the surrounding area.
Images of the event also showed a female agent cowering and attempting to avoid fire instead of covering Trump, leaving the president exposed.
Despite the political divide between King and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), her statement expressed nearly identical sentiments.
“I am very relieved that President Trump appears to be OK; however, this violence is absolutely appalling. Thank God for the Secret Service and first responders who hurried President Trump out of harm’s way,” said Collins.
Like King, Collins praised the Secret Service despite their nearly catastrophic mishandling of the situation.
While Maine politicians were condemning political violence, Maine author and outspoken Trump opponent Stephen King used the incident to call for increased gun-control, and a ban on “AR-15 style” rifles.
“An AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle was used in the Butler shooting. These are the guns the Republican party—and Trump—want to protect,” said King on X.
In April of 1969 I completed 8 weeks of basic training . We were young men who the trainers made into soldiers.
Led by our OIC and NCOS we would have secured that area and stopped this shooter. We were not all super heroes . Just a few good men .
A Confederacy of Lame Dunces.
The picture of Four winners-not.