Trump survives apparent assassination attempt; Michigan reacts

• Donald Trump rushed off the stage after an apparent assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania
• The former president and likely Republican candidate is doing “well,” the campaign says
• Michigan authorities pray and condemn political violence

LANSING – Numerous Michigan state officials condemned political violence Saturday night after former President Donald Trump survived an alleged assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump is “doing well” and was treated at a local medical facility after the shooting, his campaign said.

However, a protester and the gunman were killed, according to the Associated Press. Police are investigating the shooting as a suspected attempted murder.

Trump was escorted off the stage shortly after 6 p.m. following the attack and the event was immediately closed. Soon after, condemnations of the incident poured in from officials across the state and country.

“Pray for President Trump and America,” Michigan Republican Chairman Pete Hoekstra wrote on social media.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a fierce Trump critic and co-chair of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, wrote on X: “This is not how we resolve our differences.”

“I am horrified to hear this news and we will be monitoring the situation closely. I am grateful to law enforcement who took immediate action,” Whitmer wrote.

“There is no place for this in America,” said Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain.

According to reports, this is the first public attempt to kill a president or former president in the United States since the shooting of President Ronald Reagan outside a Washington DC hotel in 1981.

Photos and videos from the event showed Trump bleeding from the side of his head after popping noises were heard. The former president and likely Republican presidential nominee this year raised his fist after Secret Service agents forced him off the stage during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

In a message posted at 8:42 p.m. on his social media page Truth, Trump gave a brief description of the shooting, saying he “heard a whooshing sound, gunshots and immediately felt the bullet pierce his skin.”

He thanked police officers and members of the Secret Service for their “quick response.” He also expressed his condolences to those injured and killed in the shooting.

“It is unbelievable that something like this can happen in our country,” he wrote.