Shooting at Trump rally: PM Narendra Modi ‘strongly condemns’ incident, says ‘no place for violence in politics’

Shooting at Trump rally: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on July 14 “strongly” condemned the shooting incident at Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania.

In a post on social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), Modi said there is “no place for violence in politics”.

“Deeply concerned by the attack on my friend, former President Donald Trump. Strongly condemn the incident. Violence has no place in politics and democracies. Wish him speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased, those injured and the American people,” Modi wrote.

Besides Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also wrote on X, calling it an “assassination attempt” and wishing Trump a “swift and complete recovery”. “I am deeply concerned by the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump. Such acts must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Wishing him a swift and complete recovery.” Gandhi wrote.

P Chidambaram also took to X to express concern over the incident. “Political violence of any kind is unacceptable. I condemn the person who fired the shot at former President Trump — thankfully, Mr Trump survived. Let American citizens debate the merits of rival candidates and choose one as President. That choice cannot be interfered with by a mad person — who is now dead — with a gun,” Chidambaram stated. 

Trump shooting draws all-round ire

Modi, Gandhi and Chidambaram joined several world leaders and prominent personalities who chorused condemnations against the attack.

US President and Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden was among the first leaders who condemned the attack and urged others to speak against political violence. “I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information. Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” Biden stated on X.

UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer condemned the attack in strong words and said he was “appalled by the shocking scenes” of the shooting targeting former US president Donald Trump at an election rally. “Political violence in any form has no place in our societies, and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack,” he wrote on X.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau also reiterated the zero-tolerance stance on political violence. “Simply disgusted by the shots aimed at ex-President Trump. We can never say it enough: political violence is never acceptable. My thoughts are with Mr Trump, those in attendance and all Americans,” Trudeau said on X.

Wishing Trump a quick recovery from his injury, former US President Barack Obama wrote, “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai lso took to social media to urge a united attempt against political violence, stating, “I’m wishing President Trump a speedy recovery. I’m shocked by today’s shooting and loss of life. Political violence is intolerable, and we must all come together to strongly oppose it.”

Witnesses share testimony

A witness claimed that he saw the attacker was positioned on the roof before firing a shot at Trump. He even saw the attacker crawling the building before aiming at the former president with a rifle. 

“The guy crawled up the building 50 feet from us. He had a rifle,” the witness Greg, told BBC. The report also stated that he had informed about the suspicious man with a rifle to both the police and Secret Service. "I'm thinking to myself 'Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage'... the next thing you know, five shots ring out," he said as quoted by BBC.

The shooting at Donald Trump's rally is currently being investigated as an attempted assassination, reports mentioned.