What business leaders are saying about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump

Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and others spoke out against political violence in the U.S.

By Morgan Haefner1 min readUpdated August 6, 2024

Condemnations poured in from leaders in the tech and business sectors after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania.

The leaders had a resounding message: Political violence is a threat to democracy in the U.S.

Trump is safe after the shooting that led to the death of one spectator and critically injured two others attending the rally. The alleged shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, is also dead, according to the Secret Service. Trump is still slated to speak at the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee.

Following the incident, leaders of some of the world’s biggest and most powerful companies — including Apple $AAPL, Microsoft $MSFT, and Meta $META — condemned the violence.

“Praying for a quick recovery for President Trump,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote Saturday night on Threads. “This is such a sad day for our country. Political violence undermines democracy and must always be condemned.”

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook also strongly condemned the violence. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, echoed that sentiment: “There is simply no place for any type of violence in our society. Sending my best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery and to all those impacted by today’s horrific event,” he wrote on X $TWTR.

Amazon $AMZN founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla $TSLA CEO Elon Musk likewise shared their condemnations for the assassination attempt, with Musk saying after the attack: “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”

The essential business news, delivered fresh every morning.

Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.

By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.