LinkedIn co-founder's aide suggests Donald Trump ‘staged’ rally attack; apologises

Dmitri Mehlhorn is an advisor to billionaire Reid Hoffman, a ‘mega-donor’ to Democratic Party candidates.

Updated on: Jul 15, 2024, 14:04:15 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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An aide of LinkedIn co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman has apologised for suggesting that Donald Trump ‘staged’ Saturday's assassination attempt which the former US President narrowly survived, but was left with injuries to his right ear.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JULY 14: Supporters of Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald await his arrival at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on May 10, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jim Vondruska / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

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Hoffman, among the richest people in the world, is a ‘mega-donor’ to President Joe Biden's Democrats.

Following the attack on Trump, Hoffman's top political advisor Dmitri Mehlhorn, a Democratic strategist, said in an email to a few journalists that the shooting at a campaign rally of the Republican Party's presumptive nominee for November's United States presidential election, was possibly staged by Trump himself to get ‘photos and benefits from the backlash.’

Also Read: Donald Trump's split-second move that saved his life during assassination attempt

On Sunday, Mehlhorn issued an apology for his words.

“Last night, I sent an email I now regret. I drafted and sent it without consulting my team. I have apologised to them directly. I also want to apologise publicly, without reservation, for allowing my word to distract from last night's central fact: political violence took yet another American life,” he said, referring to Corey Comperatore, an ex-fire chief and a Trump supporter, who was killed at the rally. Two other spectators were injured; they were identified as David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was neutralised by snipers of the Secret Service.

Also Read: What was Donald Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks' family's first reaction?

Mehlhorn, meanwhile, urged Americans to ‘unite in condemnation of such violence in every instance, without reservation,’ and added that any other topic is a 'distraction.'

Earlier, Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder, condemned the attack.

“Assassination is not only categorically wrong, it is also the assassination of our democracy. Is is abhorrent that anyone has tried to tried to assassinate (former) President Trump. Everyone, on all sides of this election, should condemn political violence loudly and publicly,” he wrote on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

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