Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders used bold language in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. It's a feeling shared by some Virginia Republicans.
“God Almighty intervened because America is one nation under God and He is certainly not finished with President Trump,” Sanders told the crowd at the Republican National Convention earlier this week.
Lynchburg Senator Mark Peake said those with faith and a love for the former president can’t help but believe there was some kind of intervention.
“It’s a miracle, somebody shooting at him. Missed him by an inch,” he said before sending condolences to those who were killed during the shooting in Pennsylvania.
“I don’t think God wanted those people to be killed or injured,” he added. “Theological analysis [is] not my strength. I’m just glad for our country that it did not kill Trump.”
Senator Richard Stuart said it had to have been some kind of miracle. And he thinks Trump showed his true character after the shooting.
“The way he stepped up, it sent chills through me,” he said of the former president's lifted fist. “There’s not many people in this world who would have acted that way.”
The senators’ comments came after some moments of contention on the House and Senate floor during Thursday’s special session. Republican Delegate Tom Garrett read social media posts from Democratic members he found offensive and said he wasn’t “MAGA” until the shooting and reading his colleagues' responses.
Democrat Charniele Herring said rhetoric gets heated on both sides and that the incident was another example of gun violence in America.
“The significance of the tragedy shouldn’t be understated,” she said. “I’d gladly work across the aisle to make all our communities safer”
It was a feeling shared by House Speaker Don Scott.
“We’ve all been impacted by gun violence in America and we all can work on it together," he told Radio IQ. "And I think that message is a message that folks will understand.”
Southwest Virginia Delegate Terry Kilgore said he hoped voters would look past the heated social media posts and keep the peace.
“We’re gonna disagree on issues, but we don’t have to be hateful to each other,” Kilgore told Radio IQ.
Former President Trump accepted his party's official nomination for this year's election earlier this week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
