The attempted assassination attempt on former US president and Republican candidate Donald Trump, the second in two months, added fuel to a red-hot election campaign in its final stretch.
Vice President and Democratic hopeful Kamala Harris said she was deeply disturbed by the attack and stressed that she condemns political violence.
«We must all do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to further violence,» Harris warned in a statement released by the White House last night.
The words of the number two in the Executive Mansion highlighted the complex political landscape in a deeply polarised country.
President Joe Biden also addressed the issue after Trump’s attack on 13 July in Butler, Pennsylvania.
«There is no place in America for this kind of violence; it’s sick, it’s sick, it’s one of the reasons we have to bring this country together. We cannot allow this to be happening. We can’t be like this. We cannot tolerate this,» he said.
Trump was targeted on Sunday in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said «appears to be an assassination attempt» at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Florida Republican Representative Michael Waltz called on the Secret Service to brief Congress this week after this new security incident involving Trump.
«As I have said before, the assassination attempt on July 13 was not an isolated incident that we can investigate in a timely manner (…) I look forward to hearing from the Secret Service this week,» he wrote on X.
Waltz is a member of a bipartisan congressional task force of six Democrats and seven Republicans created to investigate the assassination attempt against Trump just over two months ago in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A 20-year-old Tom Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop with an AR 15 rifle at Trump’s Butler location, killing one person and wounding three, including the former president, who was grazed in one of his ears by a bullet, an injury from which he made a remarkable recovery, according to media reports.
Yesterday’s shooter, who is in custody, was identified by police as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, and described as an affordable housing developer in Hawaii who took to social media to comment on politics and current events, sometimes criticising the ex-governor.
According to reports, the subject was between 300 and 500 metres from Trump and as he fled in a pickup truck he left behind the firearm along with two backpacks, a telescopic sight and a GoPro camera.
Harris and Trump are almost neck and neck in national polls with about 50 days to go before the election, although the Democrat still has a slight lead, especially after the 10 September debate in Philadelphia.
