Youngkin condemns assassination attempt of Trump as ‘an affront against our liberty’

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) issued a statement condemning the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, calling for the nation to pray for both the victims of the shooting and the nation as a whole.

The Virginia governor applauded Trump for showing “strength and courage” while surviving his assassination attempt and argued that the shooting marks a test for the country. He argued that “American exceptionalism” is earned, not granted, and that the United States must condemn this attempt to kill the former president.

“With one voice, we must prove that we are worthy of the generations that fought, that died, that sacrificed so much to build this great country,” Youngkin’s statement read. “Yesterday’s attempted assassination of President Trump was an action of pure evil – an affront against our morality, an affront against our liberty, an affront against the very foundations of our great nation. If we ever deem it acceptable, then we will lose our Republic.”

Youngkin went on to state that the way to fix the division within the country is by “defending our beliefs with dignity and fortitude.” He added that people need to acknowledge that “God Almighty blessed this chosen land” and defend it “against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

The governor is set to be one of several Republican state leaders speaking at this week’s Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to become the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Other governors speaking at the convention include Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Kristi Noem (R-SD), Doug Burgum (R-ND), Greg Abbott (R-TX), and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR).

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Youngkin campaigned with Trump in the state of Virginia two weeks ago when the president held a campaign rally in Chesapeake. The visit was made amid speculation that Trump could select Youngkin as his vice presidential candidate, which the former president is set to announce any day now.

Trump’s campaign announced last month that it was opening more campaign offices in the state of Virginia as polling data has indicated it could flip the state red. Should Trump succeed in doing so, it would mark the first time the state went red since 2004, when then-President George W. Bush was running for reelection against then-presidential candidate John Kerry.