THE STORY
Former President Donald Trump on Monday blamed “rhetoric” from Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for the apparent second assassination attempt on his life over the weekend despite no clear motive from the alleged gunman.
Trump claimed that comments from both Harris and Biden caused the suspected gunman Ryan Wesley Routh to act on Sunday.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said of the gunman in an interview with Fox News Digital. “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.”
GOING IN DEPTH
The suspect’s motive remains unknown as the FBI continues to investigate. The FBI is investigating Sunday’s incident as an “attempted assassination.” However, it was not clear if Routh was aiming his gun at the former president.
Routh appeared in a federal courtroom in West Palm Beach Monday morning and faces two firearm-related charges.
While he blamed the Democrats for the incident Sunday, Trump himself also attacked his opponents, calling them enemies and threats.
“These are people that want to destroy our country,” Trump said. “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, Trump accused Democrats of making “false statements” about him that he said “has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust.”
Harris’ campaign and the White House both said they would not be commenting on Trump’s statements at this time.
Biden on Monday called for the Secret Service to do more.
“One thing I want to make clear, the [Secret] Service needs more help and I think the Congress should respond to their needs,” he said.
