A Pennsylvania man has been arrested after he allegedly attempted to burn down Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home on Saturday while he was celebrating the first night of Passover with his family.
The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, turned himself in to police on Sunday, NBC News reported. He told police he had “hatred towards Governor Shapiro” and had plans to beat Shapiro with a hammer. He was charged Monday with attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson, and aggravated assault.
However, Donald Trump, who comments on all manners of things on his Truth Social platform, has not said a peep about the fact that Shapiro was the subject of an assassination attempt.
Trump has been posting about a number of things, so it’s not like he has been too busy to comment about an assassination attempt on a sitting governor.
Trump’s social media posts over the weekend include:
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An authoritarian demand for CBS News to lose its broadcast license because it aired stories he didn’t like;
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A refusal to return an immigrant he illegally disappeared to an El Salvadorian gulag despite an order to do so from the Supreme Court;
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A propaganda video of himself attending a UFC fight;
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And a message to Christians about Holy Week.
Attorney General Pam Bondi belatedly commented on Sunday night about the assassination attempt.
“I am deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe, thankful for the first responders who arrived on the scene, and applaud the police work that resulted in an arrest just hours ago,” Bondi wrote in a post on X.
However, that tone was far calmer than the tone she took when laying out the punishment she wanted to impose on people who protest at co-President Elon Musk’s Tesla dealerships.
“I’ve made it clear: If you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars,” Bondi said in a video statement. “All of these cases are a serious threat to public safety. Therefore, there will be no negotiating. We are seeking 20 years in prison.”
Not only was Shapiro the subject of an assassination attempt, but it took place on Passover—when the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania was celebrating the escape of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.
Shapiro made that connection in a statement after the attack.
“When we were in the state dining room last night, we told the story of Passover,” Shapiro said, according to the Associated Press. “I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that someone attempts to put on me by attacking us as they did here last night. I refuse to let anyone who had evil intentions like that stop me from doing the work that I love.”
But Trump—who has been disappearing foreign students whom he falsely accuses of harboring antisemitic views and slashing millions in funding to top universities for supposedly failing to address antisemitism on campus—has been silent.
Of course, during the 2024 campaign, Trump slammed Shapiro as “the highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” taking pains to note Shapiro’s Jewish identity.
It’s almost as if Trump should look in the mirror when talking about antisemitism.