In the hours after the shooting at a Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee is gaining support from a former Obama ally.
Trump was wounded while speaking to supporters Saturday night. He was rushed off-stage by the Secret Service. The FBI has since identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, not far from the location of the rally. He was killed by federal agents. One rally attendee was killed, and another was critically injured, according to a Trump social media statement after the shooting.
Following the chaos, many, including Wall Street billionaire Bill Ackman, took to social media to express support for Trump. While Ackman did not mention the attempted assassination, he said this was a decision he had made “some time ago” after spending time with the former president.
“Today, when one announces an intention to support Trump, Biden supporters who know me tend to assume that I have lost it. I assure you that I have made this decision carefully, rationally, and by relying on as much empirical data as possible,” Ackman wrote.
I am going to formally endorse @realDonaldTrump. I came to this decision some time ago as many @X followers have already understood from my supportive posts of Trump and my criticisms of @POTUS Biden.
The reason why I have not yet formally done so is that I want to explain my…
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) July 14, 2024
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“Please keep an open mind on the upcoming presidential election. Bear in mind that your views on Trump have likely been dramatically affected if you have sourced your info on Trump from mainstream media or friends or family who have relied on mainstream media as a source of knowledge. We have all recently learned in the starkest manner (the debate) how we cannot rely on the MSM as our source of truth on the ultimate political question,” Ackman’s statement continued.
He joins another prominent billionaire, Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who reportedly announced he would donate to Trump’s campaign prior to the assassination attempt.