Maryland governor condemns political violence after attack on former President Trump

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore condemned political violence in a statement Saturday after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a rally that day in Pennsylvania. Moore also added more remarks Monday.

“Political violence is unacceptable and against what our country stands for. This kind of cowardice must be roundly condemned by all Americans,” Moore, a Democrat, said in the Saturday night statement. He called what happened to the former president “abhorrent.”

“We are grateful for the swift action of law enforcement as we await more information and pray for former President Trump and his family. Our nation is and must be better than this,” he said.

Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi noted in a statement Saturday night that Trump was safe, a spectator was killed, “and two spectators were critically injured. This incident is currently under investigation.”

On Monday, the second-year Maryland governor added to his remarks referencing the shooting, the latest incident in the history of the country’s political violence, during the 115th National Convention of the NAACP in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We stand together in praying for the continued healing of everyone who has been touched by this tragedy. But in a larger sense, there is another healing that we have to pray for and that’s the healing of our nation’s soul,” he said.

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President Joe Biden is scheduled to address the convention in Nevada on Tuesday. Former President Trump is scheduled to attend the Republican National Convention taking place this week in Milwaukee, Wis., where he is expected to be nominated as the party’s pick for president.

Not scheduled to be in attendance at the Republican National Convention is former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican candidate this year for United States Senate. He and the Democratic candidate for the same office, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, both put out statements related to Saturday’s shooting in Pennsylvania.

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“As a nation, we must come together and condemn this kind of political violence,” said Alsobrooks, in a social media post, on Saturday. “It has no place in America.”

Hogan called Saturday a “tragic day for our country.”

“All of us have a choice to make,” he said, in a press release on Monday.  “We’ve got to stop with the rabid tribalism, dividing our country into red and blue teams. We must get back to the red, white, and blue.”

Moore, the successor as governor of Hogan (who was term-limited), struck that patriotic note during in his remarks to the NAACP convention on Monday.

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“We live in the United States of America – the greatest democratic experiment in the history of the world,” he said. “For 248 years, America has been defined not by its perfection, but by our collective defiance in the face of imperfection.”

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Moore condemns political violence after shooting at Pa. Trump rally