Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House are showing compassion in the wake of the latest apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump‘s life.
VP Harris said during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) that she had spoken to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to check that he was OK after shots fired over the weekend at his golf club in Florida.
Madam Vice President affirmed that “there is no place for political violence” in a democracy. “We can and should have healthy debates and discussion and disagreements, but not resort to violence to resolve those issues.”
The White House shared in a statement that it was “relieved” that Trump was unharmed.
Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect who officials say pointed a high-powered rifle from the tree line of a Florida golf course where former President Donald Trump was golfing Sunday afternoon.
Routh was armed with an AK-47-style rifle and was allegedly 300-500 yards away from Trump as reported by CBS News. According to reports, no shots were fired at the Republican nominee. A member of Trump’s Secret Service spotted his rifle and opened fire at the suspect, allowing Trump to be whisked away to safety.
Social Media reactions
Despite Madame Vice President’s compassionate posture, Trump supporters are blaming Harris for the attempt.
“You called him a threat to democracy and a day 1 dictator. You own this,” one user wrote.
“Your rhetoric is creating a harmful environment for Donald Trump,” another wrote.
Even billionaire Elon Musk questioned why former President Trump has recently faced two apparent assassination attempts while President Biden and Vice President Harris have not. The posts have since been deleted.
Musk wrote on his X platform in a since-removed post, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔.” Musk later claimed his posts were just jokes.