UNITED STATES, — It was a historic weekend in America after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, July 13.
While Trump is safe and in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, many questions remain and Congressman August Pfluger is already taking action.
“We avoided tragedy by mere centimeters," said August Pfluger, congressman for the 11th District of Texas.
Congressman Pfluger shared what the days after the attempt have been like.
“We’ve been hard at work asking a lot of questions," Congressman Pfluger said. "I mean there are big picture questions that need to be understood as far as how the leadership of Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security are functioning, but there [are] also technical questions of ‘how did this happen? How did this failure happen?’”
NBC News reports the suspected shooter was roughly 148 yards away from the stage that Trump was speaking from.
“We have to now ask those hard questions, and we expect answers and we expect action," Congressman Pfluger said. "And America is tired of investigations -- we want action, we want to be safe, we want to be secure – and that’s the sense of urgency that I'm going to be leading with.”
It’s an election year with disagreement now firmly in the spotlight.
“Well it’s no surprise that our country is deeply divided, passionately divided," Congressman Pfluger said.
Midland County Republican Party Chairman James Beauchamp gave some of his perspective.
“It helps galvanize a lot of us of how important this election is," Beauchamp said. "There are a lot of people who don’t go and vote, who don’t go and participate.”
Part of a statement from Ector County Democratic Party Chair JoAnna Keese read as follows:
"There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy, and we saw violence on January 6th, 2021, of which was even directed upon GOP leaders by Trump supporters...The ongoing threats of violence need to stop immediately." - JoAnna Keese, Ector County Democratic Party Chair
Congressman Pfluger also called for prayer, a renewed trust in government and unity.
“We might be politically divided over issues, but we can be united as a country as Americans -- and that’s exactly what I hope and what I’m going to be leading us towards," Congressman Pfluger said. "I think that’s what this moment in time represents for the history of this country.”
Congressman Pfluger is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and the chairman of the Counterterrorism and Law Enforcement Committee.
Keese's full statement is below:
"There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy, and we saw violence on January 6th, 2021, of which was even directed upon GOP leaders by Trump supporters. Now, as many GOP leaders take to finger pointing and scapegoating, this is a good time to remind Republicans that violence begets violence, and violent rhetoric speaks to violent actions. It is the Democrats calling to ban assault rifles, and it is the Republicans protecting guns over children. We look forward to Republicans finding as much outrage over school shootings as the event that took place at a Trump rally. Perhaps Republicans will see that if the U.S. Secret Service can't always protect a former President, that expecting a Kindergarten teacher to protect children from an active shooter is unrealistic and admit that assault rifles are the problem. And just maybe, finally, Republicans will cease speaking to violence toward their opposition. Project 2025 leader said that the country is in the midst of a "second American Revolution" that will be bloodless "if the left allows it to be." We all know what that means and the ongoing threats of violence need to stop immediately. We are happy to see the former President enjoyed some nice golf yesterday." - JoAnna Keese, Ector County Democratic Party Chair