Justice calls for toned down political rhetoric
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CHARLESTON -- Speaking Monday before heading off to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Gov. Jim Justice addressed West Virginians following the attempted assassination Saturday of former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and called for calm.
"We came this close to losing the next president of the United States of America; a president that we had just a few years back," Justice said during live remarks Monday morning from the State Capitol Building, bringing his finger and thumb together. "We came within that close to me losing a really dear friend, someone I have all the confidence in the world in, and someone I have absolutely been very blessed to have that friendship."
According to reporting by the Associated Press and other outlets, Trump was shot at Saturday evening at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., injuring his right ear before Secret Service agents pushed him to the stage floor and rushed him out of the event. Secret Service snipers shot and killed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., who had been on a rooftop 163 yards away with an AR-style rifle.
The FBI was still investigating Crooks' Monday but found no motive for the attack as of yet. However, they did find bomb-making materials in his car and at his home. Corey Comperatore, a former chief of a nearby fire department, died on the scene, while two other rally attendees were in stable condition Monday following injuries sustained during the shooting.
"I never dreamed in my life that what we would see is what we saw on Saturday," Justice said. "We saw what I know is a great man and truly is doing what he is doing for all the right reasons. He doesn't have to do it. We saw him - Donald J. Trump - nearly assassinated. We saw a miracle right in front of our eyes. How could the bullet have really missed his head. It's unbelievable, the blessing that we saw right in front of our eyes."
Justice is friends with the Trump family. Justice, who won election as governor in 2016 as a Democrat, was convinced to switch to the Republican Party by Trump in the summer of 2017. Justice and Donald Trump Jr. have hunted together in West Virginia. And former President Trump endorsed "Big Jim" for U.S. Senate.
Justice and his English bulldog companion Babydog have a speaking slot at this week's RNC Convention. Trump was nominated Monday as the Republican Party's candidate for president, besting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and other GOP candidates earlier this year. Trump also announced Monday that freshman U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, will be his vice presidential running mate.
Justice called for an end to political violence. Trump's attempted assassination is part of a string of violent acts over recent years, including threats to U.S. Supreme Court justices; the 2022 attack on former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi;s husband by a hammer-wielding individual; the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building by Trump supporters trying to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential race; and the 2017 attack on a Congressional baseball game where former Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise was shot.
"Without any question, we've got to stop the violence, do we not? That's all there is to it," Justice said. "We've got to stop the hate and we've got to stop the tolerance of allowing and accepting the violence...From the standpoint of our politicians, we've got to amp down the rhetoric. We've got to get back to where we are respecting one another, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, an independent or whatever it may be."
Despite calling for politicians to calm their rhetoric, Justice appeared to place blame for the amped up political atmosphere on President Joe Biden, who is under pressure to not seek a second term as the Democratic nominee. Justice also blamed activist judges for not keeping those arrested for crimes behind bars, though there is no evidence that Trump's shooter had a prior criminal record.
"Frankly, I do not agree with the path that President Biden has had us on," Justice said. "It seems like the violence is just amped up all over the place all the time. The more our judges just let people go right back out on the streets automatically, the more we condone and the more we condone, the more we're going to have."
The attempted assassination on former President Trump also brought about additional statements from West Virginia officials Monday, expressing thanks for Trump's life, sorrow for the death of Comperatore, and the need for unity and calm.
"Now more than ever, we need to come together as Americans," said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "Violence of any kind has absolutely no place in our country and I condemn it entirely. Like many Americans, I have questions around this attack and it is important we understand how and why this terrible act of violence occurred."
"Political violence has no place in America, and we will never surrender to hateful fear tactics," said U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va. "I thank God that President Trump survived this assassination attempt and I'm more confident than ever that he is the leader America needs."
"When everyday political discourse equates the ladies and gentlemen in public service with monsters, when it becomes commonplace to call a political rival an enemy, the real evil is in the threat that can rise from those words," according to a House bipartisan statement from 97 out of 100 members. "The heinous act in rural Pennsylvania, not far from our borders, has become a deadly reminder that words matter, and civic discourse should never be life or death."
Before closing Monday's address with prayer, Justice urged West Virginians to not let Saturday's events shake their confidence in the country.
"This has shaken us, but you know one thing for absolutely certain it's not going to do? It's not going to make me afraid," Justice said. "I don't want you to be afraid, none of you. Someway, somehow we will get through this.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com