Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Global reaction to Trump rally shooting: Shock, and questions about US democracy | Semafor

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Trump’s admirers on the global right were among the first to react to the shooting.

Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, who recently met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, posted on X: “My thoughts and prayers are with President @realDonaldTrump in these dark hours.”

Dutch politician Geert Wilders posted simply, “#prayfortrump.” The leader of the French far right National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, reacted by saying, “Violence is the poison of any democracy.”

Elsewhere, G7 leaders voiced strong condemnation.

French President Emmanuel Macron described the shooting as ”a tragedy for our democracies,” adding in a post on X: “France shares the shock and indignation of the American people.”

I express my solidarity and wishes for a speedy recovery, with the hope that the coming months of electoral campaigning see dialogue and responsibility take the upper hand against hatred and violence,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement.

The Holy See at the Vatican expressed “concern” on Sunday in a statement, and said it was a “violent episode which injures people and democracy, provoking suffering and death.”

Newly elected UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer wrote: “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.”

The international editor of German newspaper, Der Spiegel, wrote simply: “We are at a terrible moment in history.”

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