Sec. Blinken Responds To Trump Rally Shooting: We Must ‘Confront Our Challenges…Even When It’s Ugly’

3 months ago

During a fireside chat during the Aspen Securities Forum on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken answered reporter questions on the recent shooting at a Trump Campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Yeah.

00:02On challenges to our democracy here at home,

00:07I remember interviewing you when you were a baby Secretary

00:10of State, February 2021.

00:12You'd just started the job.

00:15And you were speaking about the importance

00:18of advancing American values worldwide.

00:21And I asked you, is that harder when our values are

00:25under siege here at home?

00:27Which sadly feels like a very relevant question again.

00:30When you speak with your foreign counterparts,

00:33are they worried about instability here at home

00:36leading to instability everywhere?

00:40Well, first, I think many of our friends and partners

00:45share the horror that I think every American felt

00:50at the attack on former President Trump,

00:52at the attempted assassination, at the killing

00:54of an incredible family man who lost his life trying

00:58to protect his family.

01:00And for Americans, we say that political violence

01:05is unacceptable.

01:06And of course it is.

01:08But it's also been a threat in our history,

01:10as everyone knows all too well.

01:12And something that each and every time you hope

01:14is the last time that we see it.

01:18But for me, going around the world

01:20and talking to people about this,

01:22I think the greatest strength that we

01:23bring to a crisis of this kind, to an attack on our democracy

01:30at home, even to the divisions that we have at home, which

01:34are real, which are profound, is the way we approach them,

01:37is what we actually do in response.

01:39And the hallmark of this country heretofore

01:42has always been to confront our challenges,

01:45to confront our differences openly, transparently,

01:49not to pretend they don't exist, not to sweep them

01:51under the rug, but to engage them, even when it's ugly,

01:55even when it's incredibly painful.

01:57And that's something that continues to set us apart.

02:00Most other countries don't actually do that.

02:03So I believe strongly that as long as we continue

02:05to do that, including in the wake of something

02:08as horrific as what happened a week ago,

02:10actually it's a demonstration of the resilience

02:14of our democracy, the resilience of our values,

02:17and the importance of openness, of transparency,

02:22of a willingness to confront our own demons, our own problems.

02:25But is that the way the foreign leaders you're interacting with

02:36see it?

02:37I'm imagining you must get some pretty tough questions

02:40about things like an attempted assassination,

02:43the apparent inability of our Secret Service

02:45to prevent that attempt, a sense that things are out

02:49of control in the US.

02:52That must have some impact on America's ability

02:56to lead and wield influence on all kinds of things.

02:58Again, I really think it's all in the response.

03:00And that's an ongoing matter.

03:03Let's see where the facts take us.

03:04Let's make sure we understand exactly what happened.

03:07Let's see what we do in response to that.

03:09And let's focus on the way that we do it.

03:13If we can continue to do this together,

03:16as has been the case in the past, even with the arguments,

03:19even with the divisions, look, every single time up to now,

03:24even when we've had these terrible moments

03:26in our history, we have managed to emerge on the other side

03:31and usually stronger and better off.

03:33Now, there's no guarantee for the future.

03:35But again, I feel strongly, as long

03:38as we continue to confront these challenges directly, openly,

03:41transparently, we'll get through them.

Sec. Blinken Responds To Trump Rally Shooting: We Must ‘Confront Our Challenges…Even When It’s Ugly’

Category

Transcript

Recommended