Ben Pawlowski
SPAIN’S Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has taken to social media to condemn Saturday’s assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the former US President and presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election.
Sanchez, who has been a fierce critic of Trump on the international stage, said that ‘violence and hatred have no place in democracy’ after the 78-year old was injured in the ear by a bullet wound after shots rang out at a rally in western Pennsylvania.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the PSOE leader said: “I want to convey my strongest condemnation of the attack suffered by Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. My best wishes for a speedy recovery to former President Trump and the rest of the injured and my sincere condolences to the family of the deceased”.
READ MORE: Donald Trump among foreign politicians to send message of support to Spain’s far-right Vox
Trump was rushed off stage by Secret Service personnel after a 20-year old named by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire towards the former President as he spoke to a crowd of 30,000 supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The alleged shooter was killed by snipers, whilst at least one bystander was killed in the shooting, with two others critically injured.
The divisive Republican grandee had been speaking for four minutes when shots were fired, with Trump reporting that he was shot in the ear.
As he was hastily escorted off stage towards his car, Trump raised his fist in a show of defiance, with photos capturing blood pouring down his face from his wounded ear.
Several other leading Spanish politicians took to social media to denounce the failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, the leader of the conservative Partido Popular (PP), said: “Feeding hatred towards those who think differently leads to situations like the one seen a few hours ago in the US”.
He added: “I defend moderation, I regret that there are those who prefer to shoot rather than vote to defend their ideology, and of course I wish Donald Trump a speedy recovery”.
Santiago Abascal, leader of far-right Vox and a staunch supporter of Trump, said he ‘thanks God’ that Trump ‘survived the assassination attempt’, and suggested that Sanchez’s PSOE socialists would have been disappointed that Trump was not killed.
He said: “We must stop the globalist Left that is spreading hatred, ruin and war. The terrible thing is that in Spain the worst version of this left governs and right now they will be intimately regretting that the murderer has failed”.
Yolanda Diaz, the former leader of Sumar and vice-President of the Spanish government, said: “I strongly condemn the attack suffered yesterday whilst Trump was at a rally in Pennsylvania. Violence is incompatible with democracy”.
