Melania Trump issued a heartfelt statement the morning after her husband, Donald Trump, was shot at a Pennsylvania campaign rally, urging Americans to prioritize “love, compassion, kindness, and empathy” over politics.
“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” the former first lady wrote in a statement on Sunday.
She also expressed sympathy for the families of bystanders who were wounded, including one fatality.
“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to extinguish Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” she said.
“The core facets of my husband’s life — his human side — were buried beneath the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man whom I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.”
“Let us not forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love,” she added. “Political concepts are simplistic when compared to us, human beings.”
Melania continued, “American politics are just one vehicle that can uplift our communities. Love, compassion, kindness, and empathy are necessities.”
“And let us remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.”
“Dawn is here again,” Melania declared, “This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence.”
“We all want a world where respect is paramount, family comes first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships again,” she wrote.
Former President Trump was addressing a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13 when gunfire erupted. Secret Service agents swiftly secured the area around the former president, who sustained an ear injury from a bullet.
The suspected shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was fatally shot by Secret Service agents. Tragically, one bystander was killed and two others critically injured. The motive behind the shooting remains unclear.
In a statement, the Trump campaign confirmed the former president was “fine” and undergoing medical assessment at a local facility. They affirmed that the Republican National Convention, scheduled to commence in Milwaukee on Monday, July 15, would proceed as planned.
Following the incident, several Democratic lawmakers, including President Joe Biden, condemned the violence. Biden labeled it “sick.”
“That’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country. We cannot allow this to be happening. We cannot be like this; we cannot condone this,” Biden said in live, televised remarks.
“The bottom line is, the Trump rally is a rally that he should have been able to conduct peacefully without any problem,” he continued.
“But the idea that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this, is just unheard of. It’s just not appropriate. Everybody must condemn it. Everybody.”
