Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed into a car at a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty
MAGA World and conservative political operatives are reacting to reports that Donald Trump got shot at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania in part by claiming President Joe Biden was responsible for the violence.
Case and point: Republican Georgia Congressman Mike Collins declared on X, formerly Twitter, that “Joe Biden sent the orders.”
MORE: Photos Show Blood On Trump’s Face After Shots Reported At Pennsylvania Rally
Collins’ post quoted another post from “Conservative communicator” Steve Guest who purported to quote Biden from earlier this month when the president allegedly said, “We’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
Law enforcement did not immediately assign blame for the reported shooting, which has not been officially confirmed as a shooting.
News organizations have been reporting that Trump was being treated at a local medical facility following what sounded like gunshots.
Photos showed blood on Trump’s face as he was rushed from the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents.
As many as 50,000 people were in attendance at the rally held in a Pittsburgh suburb.
TMZ reported that Trump was definitely “shot and injured” and was taken to an unspecified local medical center.
The New York Times reported that Trump was “safe” after the reported gunshots.
“Trump’s ear appeared to be bleeding as he was rushed off the stage,” the Times reported.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service would only confirm to the Times that an “incident” took place but did not formally confirm there were gunshots.
There were no immediate reports of a suspect or suspects in the alleged shooting.
It’s on-brand for MAGA World to try to politically capitalize on the apparent political violence.
And it’s no surprise that Collins would be among the first such voices to do so.
After all, it was only in May when Collins publicly defended white University of Mississippi students who taunted a Black student activist with racist slurs and gestures.
In that case, Collins also took to X suggested the racist encounter was simply a case of “Ole Miss taking care of business.”
Aside from Collins and Guest’s posts, there is also other evidence on social media that the incident has invigorated Trump’s base of supporters.
The reported shooting comes after MAGA conservatives and surrogates for Trump’s campaign have appeared to use rhetoric inciting political violence during this election cycle.
Last September, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee warned that future elections will be decided at gunpoint.
“Do you know how political opponents to those in power are dealt with in third-world dictatorships, banana republics and communist regimes?” Huckabee asked his audience rhetorically at a taping of his “Huckabee” show. “Well, it’s simple. People in power use their police agencies to arrest their opponents for made-up crimes in an attempt to discredit them, bankrupt them, imprison them, exile them, or all of the above.”
Huckabee continued: “And if you’re not paying attention, you may not realize that Joe Biden is using exactly those tactics to make sure Donald Trump is not his opponent in 2024. Here’s the problem: if these tactics end up working to keep Trump from winning or even running in 2024, it is going to be the last American election decided by ballots rather than bullets.”
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