WASHINGTON – World leaders reacted with shock to the wounding of Donald Trump in an assassination attempt against the former US president at an election rally.
Presidents and prime ministers globally spoke out against political violence, and expressed support for those affected by the shooting on Saturday, which killed one bystander and left two other spectators critically wounded.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply shocked” by the attack. “Political violence has no place in a democracy,” she said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the shooting “despicable,” and said “such acts of violence threaten democracy.”
In neighbouring France, president Emmanuel Macron called the assassination attempt a “tragedy for our democracies.”
“France shares the shock and indignation of the American people,” said Macron.
Russia called on the United States to “take stock” of its “policies of incitement to hatred,” while using the assassination attempt to denounce Washington’s military support for Ukraine. “Perhaps it would be better to use this money to fund the American police and other services that are supposed to ensure law and order in the United States” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “appalled to learn about the shooting,” and wished Trump a “speedy recovery.” “Such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world. Never should violence prevail,” he said.
Argentina’s president Javier Milei blamed the “international left” for the assassination attempt. “In panic of losing at the polls, they resort to terrorism to impose their backward and authoritarian agenda,” said the populist president. Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the shooting “must be strongly condemned by all defenders of democracy and political dialogue.”
Chilean president Gabriel Boric expressed his “unqualified condemnation” of the shooting. “Violence is a threat to democracies, and weakens our life together. We must all reject it,” said Boric.
Colombia expressed its “solidarity with the United States at this difficult time.”
“As a country that has suffered from violence, we reaffirm that it has no place in the political and electoral debate,” the government said.
In Bolivia, president Luis Arce said: “Despite our deep ideological and political differences, violence, wherever it comes from, must always be rejected by everyone”.
China’s Xi Jinping expressed his “compassion and sympathy” for Trump, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying Beijing was “closely following” the incident.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply concerned by the attack on my friend”.
“Violence has no place in politics and democracies,” said Modi.
Japanese prime Minister Fumio Kishida also spoke out against political attacks: “We must stand firm against any form of violence that challenges democracy”.
Taiwan president Lai Ching-te offered his “sincere condolences” to the shooting victims.
“Political violence of any form is never acceptable in our democracies,” he said.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos said it was “with great relief that we receive the news that former president Donald Trump is fine and well after the attempt to assassinate him”. “Together with all democracy-loving peoples around the world, we condemn all forms of political violence. The voice of the people must always remain supreme,” Marcos said. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife Sara “were shocked by the apparent attack on president Trump”. “We pray for his safety and speedy recovery,” Netanyahu said.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described the shooting as a “treacherous incident”. Sisi wished the US “election campaigns to continue in a peaceful and healthy atmosphere, free of any manifestations of terrorism, violence or hatred”. -Nampa/AFP