'That could have been us': Across Polk, shock, anger and shame over attempt on Trump's life
Ed Shoemaker and his wife, Tonya, had just stopped Saturday evening in Lafayette, Indiana, en route to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee when they learned of the apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
“We were just shocked that something like this would happen and just thankful that he wasn’t killed or anything,” Shoemaker said by phone Sunday afternoon. “But, of course, we were also sad about the one person that died with a head wound and two others that were critically injured.”
As state committeeman for the Polk County Republican Party, Shoemaker is one of two local delegates scheduled to participate in the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday, along with Amilee Stuckey, the state committeewoman for Polk County. Two others from Polk County, Kat Gates Skipper and Hardam Tripathi, planned to attend as alternate delegates, Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker and other local political figures were still processing the stunning news Sunday. Shoemaker, 64, said he was reminded of the way his parents reacted in 1963 to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“The big thing is, gosh, it's been 43 years since Ronald Reagan got shot,” Shoemaker said. “Our society, I mean, it seems to be going backward. It’s very concerning. I just wish that we could just have good, old-fashioned debates like we used to when I was growing up, but we can still at least walk away as friends, you know? That’s what I really wish would happen.”
Shoemaker, who works in the field of mental health, said he worries that the shooting at Trump’s rally in western Pennsylvania could spark more political violence.
“My concern, of course, being a psychologist and licensed mental health counselor, one of my concerns is that you get somebody out there that is a copycat or whatever, and wanting to mimic it. I think that's always a concern.”
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Jim Powers, chair of the Polk County Republican Executive Committee, said he received a text message from a friend telling him that Trump had been shot.
“Extremely disappointed,” Powers said, describing his response. “I agree with what so many have said, that there is no place for pol violence in our society. I believe it’s a no-win situation when you go down that road. There’s so much damage that happens. So many innocent people are going to get hurt. It doesn’t work. We have a political system, and need to work within the boundaries of that.”
Powers criticized leaders of the Democratic Party for not doing enough to condemn prominent figures who have hinted at violence toward Trump. He gave several examples, including comedian Kathy Griffin’s 2017 photo of herself holding a bloodied fake head that resembled Trump; actor Johnny Depp’s 2017 quip at a film festival, “When was last time an actor killed a president?”; and Madonna’s confession that she had thought about blowing up the White House when Trump was president.
Powers also cited the shooting of U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, and others at a congressional baseball practice in 2017. And he faulted Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, for statements in 2018 encouraging Democrats to confront and harass Trump officials over his administration’s treatment of migrants at the southern border.
“I don’t know where the Democrat leadership were over the last seven years,” Powers said.
Democrats have also been targets of political violence. In 2011, a gunman seriously wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords at a constituent meeting in Arizona, while shooting 17 others and killing six. An intruder reportedly seeking to kill U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, severely injured her husband with a hammer in 2022.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, expressed support for executing prominent Democrats before being elected to Congress, CNN reported.
“I don’t want anyone who’s a Democrat to get shot because of their political beliefs,” Powers said.
Democrat: 'Shaken up'
Cesar Ramirez, chair of the Polk County Democratic Party, was attending a statewide gathering of party leaders Saturday evening in Orlando when he learned of the shooting at the Trump rally.
“I was in the middle of a conference, where we were talking and laughing and having a good time, (feeling) camaraderie about the things that we feel the same about, our democratic principles,” Ramirez said Sunday afternoon. “And then when we heard this, we were all devastated. It was silence in the room. Those who pray, prayed, and hoped that the story doesn't turn worse.”
The attack occurred in the midst of a polarizing campaign between Trump and President Joe Biden.
“We certainly don't condone any type of political violence, and we're hoping for the speedy recovery of former President Trump,” Ramirez said. “Hopefully, this will not be the thing that ignites the political process in a negative way. We still need to come together as Americans and still execute a fair and safe election for everybody. As you can imagine, this just happened, so we’re kind of all shaken up about what this means for our community, both Democratic and Republican.”
Ramirez added: “We’re really hoping that people realize that this type of stuff is wrong. At the end of the day, this is not what this country is about.”
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Dennis Ross of Lakeland served in the U.S. House as a Republican from 2011 to 2019. He now heads the American Center for Public Leadership at Southeastern University, which promotes civic engagement and political civility.
Ross said he was awaiting the arrival of a friend for dinner Saturday evening and texted him to inquire about his lateness. The friend replied that he was watching news coverage of a shooting of Donald Trump. Ross quickly turned on his TV.
For Ross, the report revived memories of the mass shooting at the baseball practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in 2017. Ross played on the Republican team but missed that day’s practice.
“It was tragic, but for a brief period, it brought our country back together,” Ross said of the attack. “And my biggest concern is that if we don't find a way to transcend our differences for the greater good, the only thing that will bring us back are catastrophic events. And I'm not so sure our country can withstand catastrophic events, like assassination attempts, or attacks.”
Some Republicans have linked the shooting at the Trump rally to denunciations of the former president from Biden and other Democrats. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, considered a potential running mate for Trump, posted on X (formerly Twitter) soon after the attack: “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.”
Ross noted that the deployment of harsh rhetoric during political campaigns dates to the county’s earliest days.
“Anybody who studies American history will know that campaign rhetoric, especially in presidential campaigns, is very vitriolic, very aggressive, very offensive, but at no time should it ever justify the use of violence or physical harm,” Ross said. “We’ve sustained a lot as a nation over the last 248 years. So I don't think it's the rhetoric as much as it is the lack of our ability to discern what is real and what isn't real and what is good for the nation.”
Ross added: “This will be a very vicious campaign, probably one of the more negative ones I've ever seen in my lifetime, and it calls for restraint. And we need to be demanding restraint on both sides of the aisle, because, again, it's for the greater good. We're all Americans. We will become weaker to our enemies if we divide ourselves from within.”
'Could have been us'
Bruce Anderson, a political science professor at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, was shopping Saturday evening when he received a text from a graduate student saying someone had shot at Trump. Anderson immediately thought of the Trump rallies that he had attended with students during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
“That could have been us,” Anderson said of the three audience members reportedly hit by bullets. “We went to 16 Trump rallies over the last two elections, and it could very easily have been one of my kids, it could have been me. … And if you're taking your life in your hands when you go to try to decide who you'll be voting for, what does that say?”
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Anderson said he was still waiting for details on the shooter and his possible motivations. But he said no ideology explains such an act of political violence.
“It could have been Trump; it could have been Biden,” he said. “It could have been (U.S. Rep. Scott) Franklin (of Lakeland); it could have been anybody running for office. You’ve got somebody out there with some kind of weird idea of how the world works, and couple that with a gun and then the next thing you know, this is what you've got. My agenda is, it should always be safe to say anything you want in this country – in any setting. Really, but in a political setting, it should be sacred. And the idea that somebody takes a shot at somebody like that is just horrendous.”
Elected officials representing Polk County shared their reactions on social media. Franklin, a former Lakeland city commissioner, posted on X at 6:44 p.m. Saturday: “Praying for President Trump and all those in attendance today.”
U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Brandon, posted: “Please join me in praying for President Trump.”
U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster; R-Clermont, posted, “Thank you God for protecting President @realDonaldTrump!”
The county’s lone Democrat in Congress, Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, also reacted to the shooting:
“We wish Fmr President Trump a quick recovery,” Soto posted Saturday night on X. “We also thank law enforcement for their rapid response. We will be monitoring the situation over the next few days as more information comes to light. In our democracy, violence is never the answer.”
Florida Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, posted on X soon after news broke of the shooting: “May the Lord be with President Trump. I pray he is safe and that no others were injured.”
Florida Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, reposted a message Saturday night from Rep. Daniel Perez, that read in part: “This violence is a direct result of the deranged hysteria the opposition has directed toward President Trump. This attempted assassination should shake the core of every American citizen.”
Canady herself posted: “Evil is real, and we do battle against it. We fight for the future of our country. Pray for President Trump.”
Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County political leaders react to Trump shooting at rally
