Metro Nashville Council Member Ginny Welsch (District 16) said former President Donald Trump “called for” the July 13 assassination attempt he survived during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was grazed by a single bullet in his upper right ear in what is formally being investigated as a failed assassination attempt during the rally last week.
The suspected 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was fatally shot by Secret Service personnel after he shot and killed one spectator – identified as former Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company Chief Corey Comperatore – and injured three others, including the former president.
"It touched Mr. Trump, because Mr. Trump has been calling for this and that people heeded his call," said Metro Councilwoman Ginny Welsch as a part of why she objected to a resolution that condemned the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump, honoring victims, and… pic.twitter.com/V6FhyIt1km
— Karen Aguilar (@KarenAFox17) July 18, 2024
“It touched Mr. Trump, because Mr. Trump has been calling for this and that people heeded his call,” Welsch (pictured above) told Fox 17.
Welsch’s refusal to condemn the assassination attempt of Trump following her and Metro Council Member Terry Vo’s (District 17) efforts during Tuesday’s council meeting to block a resolution condemning the assassination attempt of the former president and all political violence from being discussed.
The resolution, introduced by Council Members Courtney Johnston, Jeff Eslick, and Bob Nash, condemns the “attempted assassination of former President Trump,” “all political violence,” and honors the victims of the attack and the actions of the Secret Service.
The resolution reads, in part:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. That the Metropolitan County Council hereby goes on record as honoring Corey Comperatore, David Dutch, James Copenhaver, and all other victims of the July 13, 2024, attempted assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Section 2. That the Metropolitan County Council hereby goes on record as condemning the attempted assassination of former President Trump and all political violence.
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.
Welsch, however, claimed to Fox 17 that the resolution was “not calling for an end to political violence.”
“This was somehow to make Trump somehow special,” Welsch said.
Welsch and Vo blocked the resolution from being debated at the meeting by objecting to suspending the council’s rules to accommodate the legislation as it was filed post-deadline, given the shooting took place just three days before Tuesday’s meeting.
All ordinances and resolutions must be filed a week prior to council meetings in order to secure a discussion during a meeting, according to the rules of procedure of the council.
Johnston called Welsch and Vo’s efforts to block the resolution from being discussed at Tuesday’s meeting a “vile action by extremists on the council that regrettably has become all too common.”
Nashville Vice Mayor Angie Henderson encouraged sponsors of the resolution to “timely” file the legislation for the council’s next meeting, which is scheduled for August 6.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Ginny Welsch” by Ginny Welsch.
Evidently Neo-Nazis are not the only political extremists present at Metro Nashville Council meetings.
Perhaps the next assassination attempt will occur in a time-frame that allows any related Metro Nashville Council resolutions to be filed more “timely.”
We all should condemn all political violence, especially our elected officials.