I’m struggling to figure out what to call this situation with Donald Trump. There was an armed man, Ryan Wesley Routh, hiding at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club on Sunday. Routh was armed with an automatic weapon and he certainly seemed to be waiting to do something while Trump golfed. But Routh was discovered by the Secret Service, and they pursued him by car and then arrested him. Initially, there were claims of shots fired between the Secret Service and Routh, but now the local sheriff’s department says that Routh never shot his weapons (he did dump his weapons though). Basically, we have no idea what this guy’s motive was or what he was actually trying to accomplish. We do know that he voted Republican and he supported Nikki Haley in this year’s primaries. Well, that hasn’t stopped Trump from blaming all of this on… Democrats.
Former president Donald Trump on Monday blamed the “rhetoric” of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the apparent assassination attempt he faced Sunday.
The suspected gunman “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said in a Fox News interview published Monday morning. “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.”
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, had criticized Trump at times on social media and echoed a campaign slogan from Biden and Harris. Authorities, however, have not determined a motive and have not said whether there is evidence he was inspired by their rhetoric.
While Trump claimed he was “shot at,” the acting director of the Secret Service, Ronald L. Rowe Jr., said later Monday that Routh did not fire any shots and did not have Trump in his “line of sight.”
Trump — who previously warned of “potential death & destruction” if he were indicted in his New York criminal case related to a hush money payment — echoed the claims again Monday afternoon on his Truth Social platform.
“The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust. Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!” Trump wrote.
These sentiments are being greeted with eyerolls all around, even from the Trump d–k-riding conservative media. Calling a fascist a fascist is not an invitation for disaffected Republicans (?) to storm Trump’s golf courses. Trump’s insane rhetoric has already caused very real-world violence and destruction. People have died because of Trump’s use of inflammatory rhetoric. Keep in mind, the Pennsylvania shooter – who was killed at the scene in Butler – was a full-fledged Republican. Personally, I do not believe that anything is as it seems.
Additionally, WaPo had a story about how the Secret Service had warned Trump for years that his golf trips were huge security risks. Trump always told the SS that “his clubs were safe and that he wanted to keep golfing.”
Here’s a photo of Routh. People are still going through his social media and criminal record – it seems like he’s had several gun-related criminal offenses, and that he has an obsessive interest in Ukraine and foreign policy.
Photo of Trump’s assassination attempt suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh. pic.twitter.com/XmxWsgG69F
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 16, 2024
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.