Balint, Welch received campaign funds from PAC to which alleged shooter made donation
By Guy Page
Following Saturday evening’s unsuccessful assassination attempt on Donald Trump, both U.S. senators from Vermont issued public statements decrying the act of violence.
Neither senator used the term “assassination.”
“Political violence is absolutely unacceptable. I wish Donald Trump, and anyone else who may have been hurt, a speedy recovery,” Sanders said.
“I am thankful former President Trump is safe, and I am appreciative of the Secret Service and law enforcement who responded so quickly. This is a horrifying moment for our democracy. We must condemn violence always – it is never acceptable,” Welch said.
“Details of this incident are emerging and I am closely monitoring the situation. My prayers and hope for a full recovery go out to former President Trump, and anyone who was harmed at his rally in Pennsylvania today.”
Ditto Rep. Becca Balint: “I’m shocked, saddened and deeply concerned about the violence that took place at the Trump rally yesterday. I unequivocally condemn political violence of any kind. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
The week before, however, both senators made highly visible, public statements intensely critical of Trump, calling him a ‘tyrant’ (Welch), and ‘the most dangerous president in the history of this country’ (Sanders).
Welch made his comment July 10 in an op-ed in the Washington Post -, calling for President Joseph Biden to withdraw from the race for president. “I have great respect for President Biden. He saved our country from a tyrant,” the Vermont Senator wrote in an op-ed written by him for publication in the country’s most influential political newspaper.
On July 7, Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation,’ a Sunday morning talk show with a large national audience. “President Biden can clearly defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country,” he told host Bob Costa.
Both quotes are linked and cited with context in a July 11 news story in Vermont Daily Chronicle.
Meanwhile, a review of the Progressive Turnout Project – a Democratic Political Action Committee to which alleged wouldbe assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks donated a small sum when he was a teenager – show the PAC gave significant campaign contributions to both Becca Balint and Peter Welch.
The Progressive Turnout Project is a legal fundraising organization, and Crooks’ donation does not necessarily impugn its actions, nor its recipients.
According to OpenSecrets.org, Balint received $2500, Welch $10,000. Many other candidates for the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate received the same or similar amounts.
According to its website, “Progressive Turnout Project is dedicated to mobilizing the Democratic Party and defending democracy. Our voter turnout initiatives are solely focused on motivating Democrats to exercise their right to vote. We have ruthlessly focused on the field since 2015. In the 2022 electoral cycle, we pivoted to emphasize lean, innovative voter contact approaches that allowed us to connect with inconsistent Democratic voters at their doors, through personal networks and via mail sent to their homes, through smart, cost-effective strategies.”