‘It’s absolutely unacceptable:’ Washington officials react to Trump rally shooting

Washington officials have reacted to a shooting that broke out at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Saturday.

According to The Associated Press, the shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt. Trump’s ear was covered in blood and his campaign agents reported he was “fine.” A local prosecutor said the suspected gunman and at least one attendee are dead.

More details: Trump rally shootings being investigated as ‘assassination attempt’; One spectator and gunman dead

Senator Patty Murray

Violence is never acceptable, I don’t care what your political beliefs are. We use our voices and our votes in a democracy—violence has no place in America. https://t.co/IrvcowXysT

— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) July 13, 2024

Senator Maria Cantwell

There is no place for political violence in America. None.⁰⁰I’m glad former President Trump is safe. My prayers are with everyone at the rally, and their families, who have been impacted by this violence. (1/2)

— Sen. Maria Cantwell (@SenatorCantwell) July 14, 2024

Governor Jay Inslee

Violence has no place in politics, ever. I hope whoever perpetrated today’s attack is held to account. Our thoughts are with all who attended the former president’s event, and I join the many others who are expressing gratitude for the Secret Service and first responders.

— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) July 13, 2024

Lt. Governor Denny Heck

This is a sad day for our nation. Political violence in all forms is unacceptable and must be condemned. I’m glad to hear reports that former President Trump is ok. My thought and prayers are with him and the reported victims.

— Denny Heck (@LtGovDennyHeck) July 14, 2024

Washington Republican Party

KIRO Newsradio reached out to various Washington Republican leaders on Saturday.

Washington State Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh is in Milwaukee preparing for the start of his party’s national convention on Monday.

“God’s grace and the Secret Service is an amazing branch of our government who do their jobs and boy you saw them do it today,” Walsh told KIRO Newsradio.

“What you’re gonna see is Trump is going to probably arrive in Milwaukee, maybe a little bandaged up but to what is likely to be a hero’s welcome when he comes onto the stage at the convention center,” he added.

Walsh is calling on everyone to dial down the incendiary rhetoric.

“Some of us have been dreading this kind of thing, this kind of violence for a while because the rhetoric of people who don’t like Trump is so intense,” Walsh said.

“But it’s not always Trump,” Walsh added. “There are intense debates around some gubernatorial campaigns, around some congressional campaigns and maybe it doesn’t reach the level of the rhetoric around Trump but we do see this overheated rhetoric, where somebody’s a terrible person.”

He says demonizing people with different beliefs can lead to violence.

“We gotta avoid that personal demonizing and not because we’re grand or we’re great gentlemen and gentlewomen, it’s because when you start slipping down that slope, you may provoke violence,” Walsh said.

“It can push unstable people over the edge,” he added.

He said it is better to debate on the merits of an argument.

Statement from WAGOP Chairman Jim Walsh: “Today is a dark day for the United States of America.

The assassination attempt on President Trump is a reminder that the incessant and incendiary rhetoric from the radical left and the mainstream media has dire consequences. It has no… pic.twitter.com/9eXLjzRz0D

— Washington State GOP (@WAGOP) July 14, 2024

Republican strategist Randy Pepple, who does not support Trump, echoed that sentiment. He brought up recent violence affecting representatives of both parties.

“Gabby Giffords saw at a town hall meeting, police shot at a baseball practice, it’s on the right it’s on the left,” Pepple told KIRO Newsradio.

Pepple is a never-Trumper but he said there’s no justification for political violence.

“It is deplorable but leaders have to come together and deplore and at all times, not just when it’s convenient, not just in the wake of tragedy,” Pepple said.

KIRO Newsradio reached former Republican State senator Don Benton, who served four years in the Trump administration, at a GOP fundraiser in Southwest Washington Saturday evening.

He worried the attack was politically motivated and said he worries it will continue.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable,” Benton said. “It’s unacceptable at any level. That’s not what a free democracy, a free republic, is all about. We settle our differences at the ballot box, as long as it’s done fairly right.”

Benton said Trump showed resilience after the shooting. He added this is why he supports the former president.

“He has known for some time that his life has been threatened, obviously, but that will not keep him from reaching out to his people to the folks that love him,” Benton said. “And that’s what kind of a man he is. He put the cause and the country and the campaign in front of his own personal safety.”

Benton said Trump’s defiant reaction moments after the shooting was what he expected to see.

“That’s just the kind of person he is, he’s a fighter,” Benton said. “He doesn’t go down easy and I think all of America saw that today.”

Benton also described what people were saying.

“Thank god that he’s OK, that he got more support than ever before, people that have not been enthusiastic in the past have come up and said ‘It’s clear to me that he’s the only guy that can fix this mess the country is in,” Benton said.

Local leaders — both Republicans and Democrats — have condemned the violence. Stay with KIRO Newsradio for local reaction throughout the week.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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