Former first lady Melania Trump urged the country to unite in the wake of the assassination attempt on her husband Sunday in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter).
“This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence,” Melania said, following the shooting which injured former President Trump during a Saturday campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again,” Melania wrote.
She also expressed gratitude to the United States Secret Service agents who saved her husband’s life. (RELATED: ‘Obviously An Abysmal Failure’: Former Secret Service Agents Break Down Trump Assassination Attempt, Security Response)
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) July 14, 2024
The former first lady reflected that the moment almost changed her life in the blink of an eye.
“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change.”
She continued to call on the country to unite, and pointed to the common values that bind all Americans.
“Let us remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.”
Trump also noted the vitriol and dehumanizing elements of political rhetoric that led to the shooter, who the FBI have identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, to make an attempt on her husband’s life.
“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion – his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. The core facets of my husband’s life – his human side – were buried below the political machine,” she wrote.
She extended sympathy to the family of the victims of the shooting. “Your need to summon your inner strength for such a terrible reason saddens me.”
Family members of shooting victim Corey Comperatore, 50, identified him on Facebook as a father to two girls and a former volunteer fire chief of Buffalo Township. His family said he died shielding his daughters from the gunfire.
Melania ended her statement calling for the country to reunite, writing that “dawn is here again.”
“The winds of change have arrived. For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide – thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family,” the former first lady concluded.