In reaction to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, leading left-wing political figures in Europe pointed the finger at gun rights in America, with the former head of the UK Labour Party in the European Parliament saying that Republicans “reap what they sow” for defending the Second Amendment.
The failed assassination attempt on former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 election Donald Trump at a campaign rally, which claimed the life of an audience member and left two others critically wounded, is already being used for political points scoring to forward the anti-gun agenda of the left in Europe.
While European leaders — many of whom have been deeply critical of Donald Trump — were quick to condemn the political violence against the presumptive Republican nominee, some leading political figures, such as Richard Corbett, used the opportunity to advance their agenda.
Corbett, the former and final leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), which represented the governing UK Labour Party in the EU Parliament before Brexit, said on Sunday in response to the shooting of the former president: “Will this make the Republicans want to change the US gun laws that have led to widespread gun ownership and nearly 50,000 deaths a year from guns?”
“Fat chance! They reap what they sow,” Corbett added.
Deputy leader of the Reform UK party and Member of Parliament for Boston and Skegness, Richard Tice said the comments from the senior Labour figure were “disgraceful”.
Anti-Second Amendment rhetoric was also put forward by leading Eurocrat and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstad following the Trump assassination attempt.
The leading globalist and longtime MEP said that the shooting showed that it is “high time to rebuild an open and peaceful democracy not dominated by money, guns or hatred but by people respectfully debating and finding their future together!”
While Verhofstadt — a chief opponent of Brexit and Trump — condemned the assassination attempt, just one day before the shooting, he branded the former American president as a “traitor of liberal democracy” after Trump met with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán to discuss peace plans for the war in Ukraine.
The Eurocrat added in his message: “Let’s fight back more than ever to make sure democracy wins!”
Verhofstadt also used the Trump assassination attempt to further his chief political goal; increasing the power of Brussels through EU centralisation.
“As democracy in America unravels Europe needs to prepare for the return of Trump,” he said, adding: “We need to count only on ourselves in defence, foreign affairs [and] hardening global economy. We need wholesale EU reform to survive… [and] EU leaders need to step up urgently!”