Kentucky House, Senate leaders call for unity after Trump shooting

KENTUCKY ( FOX 56 ) — “You always know there is something of a possibility, a likelihood. You just hope it doesn’t happen,” said Senate President Robert Stivers (R).

Saturday’s violence did turn deadly, as a political rally for former President Donald Trump ended in gunfire and an assassination attempt. Kentucky House and Senate leaders said it’s important to reflect on how the country has gotten to this point.

“I think that we would fool ourselves by thinking that two inches is worthy of not calling ourselves in crisis. We find ourselves in a crisis,” said House Speaker David Osborne (R).

Leaders said discourse in this country has heightened, calling for unity in a time of division between parties and people.

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“They are your political opponent, but they are not your personal enemies,” said Stivers, “There are going to be divisive issues, but there’s a lot of issues that we have commonality of purpose, and let’s not get so entwined and wrapped around the axes that we lose sight of all the good things we can do that we can get agreement on.”

He said it was easy to point fingers at the one behind the shooting and question how he was in range to commit such violence.

“He was disturbed, he needed to help. Something was wrong with that young man,” said Stivers.

However, leaders said this is a prime example of why this country must do better.

“Maybe we can restore some dialog and a sense of civility because there is nothing on what we saw that we ever want to see again, that happened yesterday,” Stivers added.

House Speaker Osborne, said, he does not have the piece to the puzzle in restoring civility in this nation but knows that it starts with words. Looking ahead to both party conventions, he hopes temperatures will come down, leading to a change in behavior and actions.

“Sometimes we will lose, sometimes we will win debates, but at the end of the day, we all ultimately want the same thing for our country, and that is the success and prosperity of our fellow Americans,” said Osborne.

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