Members of Maine's congressional delegation expressed dismay and horror on Saturday at the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
All four members of the delegation — Republican Sen. Susan Collins, independent Sen. Angus King and Democratic Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden — took to social media within hours of the incident to express concern for Trump or relief that he was not more seriously injured. They all universally decried the violence witnessed on Saturday.
"There is absolutely no place for this kind of violence in our political system, regardless of one's view," Collins said in an interview late Saturday.
Collins said she was thankful that Trump was OK and praised the immediate response from Secret Service agents and other first responders to shield him and get him to safety. Collins said she expects that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee will receive classified briefings on the incident after the investigation.
"My message to the people of this country would be to not give up hope, to not give up their belief in our country despite this absolutely horrific incident," Collins said. "There is nothing that justifies this kind of violence."
King also serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
"We can disagree on politics, but political violence of any kind is wrong and antithetical to the core American values we believe in," King said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Golden said on social media that "there must be no room for violence of any kind in our politics" while Pingree issued a statement saying that "political violence of any kind is never acceptable."
