Former US President Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona. Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The heads of Microsoft, Google and Amazon all spoke out to condemn the attack and wish Trump a quick recovery, while Elon Musk said he fully endorses Trump for the US presidency.
The world was left stunned last weekend when former US president Donald Trump was shot in the ear at a campaign rally.
Trump was swarmed by US Secret Service agents after a gunman fired at Trump and into the crowd, killing one person and seriously injuring two other spectators. The gunman was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks and was killed by Secret Service.
Various political leaders, including Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris, TD and US president Joe Biden, have publicly condemned the attack and called for calm to prevent this type of political violence. The incident also drew comments from various high-profile tech leaders who condemned the attack and shared support for Trump.
Jeff Bezos said Trump showed “tremendous grace and courage” during the attack and added that he is “so sad for the victims and their families”. Bezos referred to Trump as a “former president” in his post on X.
Both Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai referred to him as “President Trump” in their responses. Pichai said he was “shocked” by the shooting and said political violence is “intolerable and we must all come together to strongly oppose it”.
Musk backs Trump
Meanwhile, X owner Elon Musk shared views on his social media platform about the incident. In one post, Musk said he fully endorses Trump and that he hopes for “his rapid recovery”.
This endorsement comes shortly after Bloomberg reported that Musk donated to a to pro-Trump political action committee called America PAC. There was also a report from the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that claimed Trump is considering giving Musk an advisory role in the US if Trump gets re-elected.
Musk also criticised the security at the rally and said “the head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail should resign” as a result of the assassination attempt. Musk also reposted an X post from Perishing Square CEO Bill Ackman who formally endorsed Trump yesterday (14 July).
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Former US president Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
