Attack on Donald Trump outrages the EU. Leaders unanimously condemn political violence

Brussels – “Political violence has no place in a democracy.” The words with which Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attack on Donald Trump are the leitmotif found in all the comments of European leaders. After the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and several instances of attacks on European election candidates in Germany and France, Europe no longer feels immune to the spiral of political violence that peaked at the Republican White House candidate’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

On Saturday, July 13, the former US president was wounded in the ear by a bullet fired by a young Republican voter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, during his last rally before the convention scheduled for today in Milwaukee, where Trump will officially accept the nomination for the White House. In the hours immediately afterward, messages of sympathy for the tycoon and condemnation of the failed attack multiplied: the President of the European Council, Charles Michel said: “political violence is absolutely unacceptable in a democracy,” while the High EU representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, highlighted a worrying trend: “Once again we are witnessing unacceptable acts of violence against political representatives,” he said.

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

Of the same tenor was the comment of Kaja Kallas, Estonia’s Prime Minister and candidate to replace Borrell as head of EU diplomacy: “Political violence in any form has no justification,” she said. “A tragedy for our democracies,” French President Emmanuel Macron called it, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz chose the word “threat.” The Italian Premier, Giorgia Meloni, recalled that “in political debate, all over the world, there are limits that should never be exceeded.”

Donald Trump e Viktor Orban in Florida, 11/07/24 [Ph: Account Facebook Viktor Orban]

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – among the biggest supporters of Trump’s return to Washington – who met with the former President two days earlier in Florida, was shocked: “My thoughts and prayers are with President Trump in these dark hours,” Orbán tweeted in the minutes after the attack.  Slovak Premier Robert Fico, who survived an attack only two months ago, reacted emotionally to the news. His words show the resentment toward the media and political opponents in his own country: “If Donald Trump’s attacker spoke Slovak, he would only have to read Denník N, Denník SME or Aktuality.sk (three major Slovak media, ed.) so that he would have the desire to “make things right” with the disobedient former president of the USA,” Fico attacked. In drawing parallels with his personal affair, Fico continued: “They are trying to shut Trump up, and when they don’t work out, they piss the public off so much that some loser picks up a gun.”

Those who immediately linked the shooting to the future voting intentions of the American people was Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right ruling party in the Netherlands: “I trust the 45th president to become the 47th. No one deserves it more,” he said in a post on X.

The first pages of several international newspapers, 15/07/24 (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

In an election campaign already exacerbated by violent and hyper-polarized tones, everything suggests that the strong image of Trump bleeding in the face as he raises his fist in a sign of resistance – while the stars and stripes flag flies behind him – may only propel him toward a second term in the White House. The tycoon has already seized the ball, maintaining his trademark aggressive tones: ” In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,”the former President’s said, convinced that “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

Instead, President Joe Biden played the part of a firefighter, pleading with the American people to “not go down” the road of violence, a road “already traveled throughout our history” and which “has never been the answer.” From a purely electoral perspective, Trump’s martyr-like image can only further weaken an already beleaguered Biden. In a recent Abc News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted between July 5 and 9, the two were more or less evenly matched, but 67 percent of Americans would like the elderly Democratic candidate to withdraw from the Presidential race. That was before the assassination attempt on Trump. But voting day, November 5, is still a long way off.