By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Various world leaders on Saturday condemned the shooting at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania in which the former president was shot in the right ear and a rally attendee and the shooter were killed.
Leaders from several countries expressed shock at the incident, condemned political violence and wished Trump a speedy recovery.
The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the shooting, describing it as “an act of political violence.”
“We must stand firmly against any form of violence that challenges democracy,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
The Secret Service said two other spectators were also wounded in the shooting at the rally. The FBI said the incident was being investigated as an attempted assassination.
Trump, 78, said on social media that he was shot in the upper part of his right ear and was bleeding heavily. His campaign said he was “doing fine.” He was released from the hospital late Saturday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled by the horrific scenes” at the march. “Political violence of any kind has no place in our communities and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack,” he added.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the shooting was “disturbing and confrontational,” while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the incident was “sickening.” “Political violence is never acceptable,” Trudeau said. Leaders from Thailand, Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines made similar comments.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Americans fear an escalation in political violence, with two out of three respondents to a May poll saying they feared violence could follow the November election in which Republican Trump will face President Joe Biden, a Democrat who has also condemned the shooting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was shocked by the incident. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who met Trump this week while he was visiting the United States for a NATO summit, said his prayers were with the former president “in these dark hours.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the shooting unacceptable and urged others to condemn it.
“All defenders of democracy and dialogue in politics must strongly condemn the attack on former President Donald Trump. What we saw today is unacceptable,” the Brazilian leader said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Trump a friend and wished him a speedy recovery, saying: “I strongly condemn the incident. Violence has no place in politics and democracies.”
