President Andrés Manuel López Obrador condemned the assassination attempt on former United States president Donald Trump, declaring that “any act of violence is reprehensible.”
Shortly after Trump was shot by a 20-year-old gunman while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, López Obrador wrote on social media that “we condemn what happened to the ex-president… Violence is irrational and inhumane.”
Sea como sea reprobamos lo sucedido al expresidente Donald Trump. La violencia es irracional e inhumana.
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) July 13, 2024
AMLO subsequently told reporters that “any act of violence is reprehensible.”
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media that she agreed with López Obrador and asserted that “violence doesn’t get you anywhere.”
“… It’s good to know that the former president Donald Trump is fine,” she said in a subsequent post.
“We reiterate our condemnation of this attack and the importance of rejecting any form of political violence. Peace and democracy must always be the choice,” Sheinbaum wrote.
At his Monday morning press conference, López Obrador reiterated his condemnation of the attempt on the life of Trump, with whom he maintained a largely cordial relationship while the former U.S. president held office.
Violence “cannot be justified,” he said, adding that it is “irrational” and “doesn’t help” in any way.
“On the contrary, it contaminates the political environment and produces fear [and] suspicion,” AMLO said.
“In addition, it’s very inhumane because in politics we can be adversaries but not enemies,” he said.
“… Fortunately, ex-president Trump wasn’t assassinated,” López Obrador said before acknowledging that one rally attendee and the shooter were killed.
“It’s all very regrettable. We’ve already suffered from these moments of great uncertainty and sadness … [with] the assassination of [Luis Donaldo] Colosio,” he said, referring to the 1994 killing in Tijuana of the presidential candidate for the then-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Political violence is common in Mexico, where it most commonly affects municipal-level officeholders and aspirants. More than 30 candidates and political aspirants were murdered during the 2023-24 electoral period.
Three Mexican presidents have been assassinated, all during the early 20th century.
Francisco I. Madero was assassinated in 1913, while Venustiano Carranza was killed in 1920. Álvaro Óbregon was assassinated in 1928 just 16 days after he was elected to serve a second term as president.
Donald Trump, who will be formally nominated this week as the Republican Party’s candidate for the Nov. 5 presidential election in the United States, is the first U.S. president or ex-president to be shot since Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in 1981.
Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated: Abraham Lincoln in 1865; James A. Garfield in 1881; William McKinley in 1901; and John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Mexico News Daily
