New York elected officials, including those across the aisle, voiced their anger over an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

“Let me be clear: violence in our politics is abhorrent and we thoroughly, thoroughly condemn it. It was a disgusting, cowardly act and it does not represent the values of our country,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Monday.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Adams have weighed in this week about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump

  • Shots were fired during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday

  • Officials say political differences must be settled with ballots, not bullets

“It’s absolutely critical that everyone, regardless of their ideology or affiliation, can peacefully express their political views without fearing violence,” she added.

Hochul said the state intelligence center is monitoring social media for threats of violence or retaliation, and state police are working with local and federal law enforcement partners. The state is also monitoring high profile locations like government buildings and coordinating with the NYPD.

She noted the weapon the shooter allegedly used is the same one used in the 2022 supermarket mass shooting in Buffalo.

“I felt a pit in my stomach of disgust that this is the level of discourse in our country where people feel at liberty to — first of all, have in their possession a military-style assault weapon which is a weapon of mass destruction which we’ve seen the ill effects in my own state of Buffalo, or hometown of Buffalo,” she said.

The attack also struck a personal chord with Mayor Eric Adams, who, speaking to NYPD recruits, recalled his own brush with gunfire when shots were fired into his NYPD car.

“I thought about that this weekend when I saw the president of the United States, former president, inches — inches away from losing his life. And some would get caught up in the political philosophy of who we want to win and who we don’t but I thought about his children, I thought about his wife, and I thought about his supporters and realized that we’re in a dark place, we’re in a dark place,” Adams said.

Those comments follow a bipartisan Sunday press conference calling for unity and come as Republican Rep. Mike Lawler from upstate and Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of the Bronx plan to introduce federal legislation providing enhanced U.S. Secret Service protection to all presidential candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy.