Graham after Trump rally shooting: ‘Today, be grateful’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called on the country to hold off on political concerns and to “be grateful” following the assassination attempt of former President Trump.

“There is a frustration, on our side, about the way President Trump has been treated,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’ll have a chance here to talk about, you know, what’s best for America. But let’s just, today, be grateful.”

Several legislators have made statements since Saturday evening connecting the shooting with the former president’s political opposition. Vice presidential hopeful Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) posted on the social platform X shortly after the incident, saying that Biden campaign rhetoric on Trump “led directly” to the attempted assassination.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

While Graham said the shooter is the one to blame for the incident, he echoed Vance’s point, saying that Trump is “not a fascist.”

“If he wins, democracy is not going to end. He’s not a fascist. He represents a point of view that millions share,” Graham said.

“The rhetoric is way too hot,” he added.

Graham struck a somber tone during the incident, sharing that he was supposed to play golf with the former president Sunday morning.

“I’m grateful you weren’t hurt any worse, and I love you,” he said in a message to Trump on the air.

Gunshots were fired into a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pa., around 6:15 p.m. Saturday. The former president said that a bullet pierced his ear. According to the FBI, the shooter and one rally attendee were killed, and two attendees were critically injured.