Politics continues in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, with both sides in Illinois taking stock of the temperature of the rhetoric this election cycle.
In Pennsylvania on Saturday, a Trump rally attendee was shot and killed and Trump was injured when a would-be assassin opened fire minutes into the former president’s speech to a crowd in an open field. The assailant was shot and killed by law enforcement.
At an unrelated event in Springfield, US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said it was a miracle that Trump survived.
“If that bullet would have been one inch in another direction, I’m afraid he would have given his life to this assassination attempt,” Durbin said. “Thank God he’s alive.”
Durbin said Congress has a responsibility to investigate how the shooting happened, and the security lapses around the event that allowed a would-be assassin to get on an adjacent rooftop within sight of Trump on stage.
Durbin was asked by a member of the media how much responsibility Trump bears for the political climate.
“We’re all responsible, including you,” Durbin said. “Including you, the media, social media, all of us have a responsibility to make it clear that those who are preaching violence are unacceptable regardless of political stripe.”
Standing with Durbin, US Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) reiterated President Biden’s message.
“We need to again lower the political temperature, come together, we can agree to disagree and do that peacefully,” she said.
At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois state Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) said Saturday’s attempted assassination changed things.
“Now it’s like, ‘Oh, wait a minute here.’ This is serious, this is serious stuff,” Severin told the Center Square. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing our due diligence and we’re taking care of business.”
Illinois state Sen. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) said after Saturday’s attempted assassination of Trump, there must be a message of unity.
“If you wanna bring calm and get back to normal, we need to elect people who will fight for America and fight for America first and that’s Donald J. Trump,” Chesney told the Center Square in Milwaukee.
Republicans from across the country continue their national convention in Milwaukee this week. Trump made his first public appearance at the convention with a bandaged ear.