Trump says Biden, Harris' ‘rhetoric’ led to second assassination attempt: ‘They are the real threat’
Donald Trump has claimed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are to blame for the second assassination attempt on him.
Donald Trump has claimed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are to blame for the second assassination attempt on him. A suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested after he was spotted by the Secret Service while he was plotting to assassinate the former president, authorities have said. Routh was hiding at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with an AK-47, a GoPro camera and other items. At the time, Trump was golfing at the venue.
‘Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at’
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump told Fox News. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
Trump pointed out that Routh, 58, used language that was nearly identical to what Biden and Harris often say about him posing a threat to American democracy if he is re-elected. “These are people that want to destroy our country,” Trump said of Biden and Harris. “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”
Routh posted various political comments on social media in the past. He wrote in April that “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.” Before dropping out of the race and endorsing Harris, Biden repeatedly used the phrase “democracy is on the ballot.” Harris, too, has also called Trump a threat to democracy.
Meanwhile, after the second assassination attempt was foiled, Trump thanked “everyone for your concern and well wishes” and said that it was “certainly an interesting day!” “Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE. THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” the former president wrote on Truth Social.