Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who was in attendance at Saturday’s rally where former President Trump survived an assassination attempt, is calling for Americans to start taking personal responsibility for their rhetoric in a bid to lower the political temperature.
“Physically, I’m fine. Mentally, I’m fine. But ... This has got to stop. This has absolutely got to stop,” Kelly told The Hill in a phone interview on Sunday.
“It's a time to ... take a deep dive into what happened to America. This is certainly not the America that I grew up in, and that my parents had gone through the Great Depression, World War II to make sure we had a future. But that's what we are right now, as we are right now, like a third-world country,” Kelly said. “It's not the United States of America anymore. It’s the divided states of America – and too radical.”
Kelly – who represents Butler, Pennsylvania, where the rally was held – attended the event with his wife, grandchildren, and other family members. Much of his staff was in attendance as well. All were unharmed.
He said it was “surreal” when Trump was shot, with a quick “pop pop pop pop,” Trump going down to the ground, and then people screaming and looking up to see people in the bleachers with blood on their shirts.
“The reality of it all is you have to be responsible for what it is you say, and I think we need to start taking personal responsibility for that,” Kelly added. “It's not any one party, it's not any one group of people.”
Trump said in a statement that a bullet had “pierced” his right ear. One rally attendee died, and two others were seriously injured. The suspected shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was also killed.
In wake of the shooting, Republicans have launched investigations into the security posture at the rally, with the House Oversight Committee asking for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appear for a hearing and the House Homeland Security Committee requesting numerous documents and information from the Department of Homeland Security.
Asked about concerns other Republicans are voicing about the security posture, Kelly said that it is “too early to start pointing fingers.”
“The question is, 'Why did this young man decide that on that day he had to kill a candidate for the presidency?'” Kelly said “I don't know that the Secret Service could have done anything about any type of law enforcement to do that. That starts in the hearts and minds of men and women,.”
Kelly also praised the Secret Service agents that he watched rush to drape themselves over the former president.
“It's time for the whole country – the whole country – to wake up,” Kelly said. “This has gotten to the point that that’s just no longer tolerable.”
Kelly also suggested that people start by examining their own statements in an effort to take down the temperature in political rhetoric.
“If you want to know how to fix the country, please find a mirror and go take a look at it and say, ‘So am I also responsible for this in one way or another? Maybe some of the things that I've texted out, there are some things I've said to people?' ” Kelly said.
