European Leaders, Media React to Assassination Attempt on Trump
German magazine DER SPIEGEL: Trump’s raised fist “captured the profound sense of the moment.”
European and Western leaders overwhelmingly condemned the attempted assassination on former U.S. President Donald Trump, with most politicians wishing him a speedy recovery.
The mainstream European media, generally critical of President Trump, begrudgingly acknowledged his fighting spirit despite an assassin’s bullet piercing his ear. Trump’s raised fist in the face of death could doom President Joe Biden’s already faltering campaign, European news outlets fear.
The newly-elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was “appalled” by the attack and sent his “best wishes” to President Trump and his family.
I am appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump's rally and we send him and his family our best wishes.
Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 14, 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the attack on former U.S. president “despicable.”
“The attack on US presidential candidate Donald Trump is despicable. I wish him a speedy recovery. My thoughts are also with those who were affected by the attack. Such acts of violence threaten democracy,” Scholz wrote on Twitter.
The attack on US presidential candidate Donald Trump is despicable. I wish him a speedy recovery. My thoughts are also with all of those who were affected by the attack. Such acts of violence threaten democracy.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) July 14, 2024
Germany’s state-run DW TV posted the reaction of leading German politicians:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has led condemnation of the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calling it "despicable." Reactions have been coming in from across the political spectrum. pic.twitter.com/DiPUByD0FQ
— DW Politics (@dw_politics) July 14, 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron shared those sentiments and wished President Trump a ‘speedy recovery.’
“France shares the shock and indignation of the American people,” he declared.
My thoughts are with President Donald Trump, the victim of an assassination attempt. I send him my wishes for a speedy recovery. A spectator has died, several are injured. It is a tragedy for our democracies. France shares the shock and indignation of the American people.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 14, 2024
President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen condemned “political violence,” while wishing “a speedy recovery” to President Trump and offering “condolences to the family of the innocent victim” of the Butler rally shooting.
One attendee was killed and two were critically injured in the shooting. Their names had not yet been released.
I am deeply shocked by the shooting that took place during former President Trump’s campaign rally.
I wish Donald Trump a speedy recovery and offer my condolences to the family of the innocent victim.
Political violence has no place in a democracy.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 14, 2024
Words of support and encouragement also came from conservative and patriotic European leaders, who are more aligned with President Trump’s America First policy. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and prominent Dutch politician Geert Wilders condemned the assassination attempt.
Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK party made a debut in the recent British election, promised to see his longtime ‘friend’ Trump at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
I will fly out to America this week to support my friend Donald Trump at the RNC.
We all have a duty to support and defend democracy. pic.twitter.com/KoDqszd2Jj
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) July 14, 2024
My thoughts and prayers are with President @realDonaldTrump in these dark hours. 🙏
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) July 13, 2024
The hate rhetoric from many leftish politicians and media, who label right-wing politicians as racists and Nazis is not without consequences. They are playing with fire.#Trump
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 14, 2024
Trump’s raised fist “captured the profound sense of the moment”: European media reacts
German weekly, Der Spiegel, usually highly critical of President Trump, gave him a backhanded compliment by calling him as “politician with instinct” for raising his fist in the air after just “75 seconds of being shot” a gesture that “captured the profound sense of the moment.”
“The image of the raised fist is a masterpiece in political communication. This is not his first,” the most-read German weekly noted.
German newspaper Die Süddeutsche Zeitung cynically warned that President Trump could “take advantage” of the fallout from the attack. “The assassination attempt on Donald Trump is symbolic: the country is becoming radicalized and the threats of an armed conflict is growing,” the newspaper claimed.
“The former [U.S.] president knows how to take advantage of the heightened mood,” the German daily alleged.
The left-wing British newspaper Guardian, no friends of the former U.S. president, pointed at the “stunning lapse in security at the rally,” and questioned how “a single gunman [could] repeatedly shoot at Trump from the roof of a building near to the stage from which he was speaking.”
“The Pennsylvania shooting likely marks the Secret Service’s biggest security crisis since former president Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, by a stalker of the actor Jodie Foster,” the newspaper concluded.
The leading French newspaper Le Monde contrasted President Trump’s defiant fist raise to President Biden, who “gives off an image of great fragility.” The incident could doom the Democratic campaign, the French daily feared.
Biden’s campaign will be forced to abandon the tactic of demonising Trump, the newspaper lamented. Left-wing media talking heads, who made their careers spewing hatred against the former president, will have to tone down “the language that can now be used against Trump,” the daily said.
Le Monde’s Washington correspondent Gilles Paris wrote:
Before the attempted assassination in Pennsylvania, the Democratic camp was prey to unprecedented divisions over the retention of Biden. A change of candidate was being called for by a growing minority of elected representatives, with all the risks that such an operation, unprecedented in the recent history of American presidential elections, entails. The images of Trump in the seconds after the shots were fired at him can only reinforce the contrast with an outgoing president who gives off an image of great fragility.
But what happened on July 13 further complicates the Democrats’ task. It’s no longer just a question of Biden’s state of health, but also of the language that can now be used against Trump, given his new status as the miracle survivor of political violence that had been associated since January 6 with far-right militias.
In yet another case for bizarre victim blaming, Spain’s El Mundo newspaper blamed President Trump for the attempt on his life. The Spanish daily claimed “polarization and hostility generated by Trump since his entry into politics in the 2016 campaign” led to the attack.
“The incident certainly elevates Donald Trump on the altars of his devotees, and bolsters his candidacy,” the newspaper claimed.
[Excerpts from European media reports translated by the author]
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I think that when we are making cuts in foreign aid, these comments should be considered.
In what way would any of these comments be relevant to such a decision? Which of the negative comments cited came from a government which receives USA foreign aid?
I generally like Europe and its people. How can I not — my ancestors came from that continent.
But boy howdy, they are really, really challenging me. They don’t want to defend themselves (Poland excepted), they don’t want to face that their political ideology is failing them, and they don’t want to solve their problems. It’s like 1491 all over again for that continent.
And their elites hate us, they really us common Americans. In the face of all that, I’m more tempted every day to wash my hands and wish them well.
“And their elites hate us, they really us common Americans. ”
maybe it is because we – as Americans – do not know our place as peasants in their neo-feudalistic world. The non-elites in Europe still understand their roles in society, as peasants or the proletariat or working-class. We Americans do not value their hierarchies as more than fodder for fairytales from Hollywood.
We train with weapons – historically, only the Elites in Europe had access, but here, even the most inbred red-neck hillbilly shoots
We are educated – and more and more the non-elites in the US are eschewing the public school system designed to dumb-down our children and instead REALLY educating them
We travel – maybe not to the all important cultural centers of Europe, but most Americans have traveled out of state.
We tend to treat everyone else like we treat each other. A little awe, a little respect, a lot of familiarity, but then we forget and just talk to equals around us.
no wonder they hate us.
“Such acts of violence threaten democracy.”
Unless your “democracy” is a facade… then they are the only way to restore it.
1775-6 wasn’t politics. It was “a continuation of politics by other means.”
Another famous deep-state assassination target once reminded us that “those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.”
About a year ago state TV in New Zealand had their anchors shoot at a Trump doll and recommended it to their viewers as good fun, “just don’t shoot anyone else”.
Geroni – here is the youtube video from that segment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzABJI6T4gM
What has happened to New Zealand the last decade or so? It used to be a sort of libertarian oasis. Now, it’s a haven for progressive ignorance.
The locusts outran the homesteaders.
But what happened on July 13 further complicates the Democrats’ task. It’s no longer just a question of Biden’s state of health, but also of the language that can now be used against Trump, given his new status as the miracle survivor of political violence that had been associated since January 6 with far-right militias.
Such violence from far-right militias exists only in the minds of deranged leftists and the media- but I repeat myself.
Almost all mass violence, riots and mobs and looting, is from the left side of the political spectrum. What isn’t is from just plain crazies.
“The leading French newspaper Le Monde contrasted President Trump’s defiant fist raise to President Biden, who “gives off an image of great fragility.”
It took a bullet to send Trump to his knees… not a damn stair tread.
When President ButMuhNorrrrmmzzz! has lost the Euroweenies…
England, France, Europe generally – always there when they need us.
This assassination has been brought to you by the legacy corporate media both American and European versions (if you think it is all European media check out Spiked or other actually conservative European media).
Without the media on board the Democratic politicians would not be anywhere near the level of rhetoric they are. The Democrat politicians of course have a major part but the primary responsibility is the media that incited this.
The Democratic Party, the DNC, MSNBC, Public Radio have been openly encouraging this assassination attempt. Wray , Garland and Schumer have been making sure the crazies run free.