Donald Trump survived “what appears to be an attempted assassination”—the second in as many months—near his Florida golf course, the FBI said.
The former president was rushed to safety when a suspected gunman was spotted hiding in the bushes of his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sunday. Trump has assured his supporters he is “safe and well,” adding: “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”
The suspect, who fled the scene in a car but was later stopped and arrested, has been identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh.
Unlike Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Trump in July, Routh has a large social media footprint—one which has prompted commentators to accuse leading Democrats of “radicalizing” him.
In April this year, Routh wrote on Twitter/X that “Democracy is on the ballot” at this election, and “we cannot lose.” Pundits have highlighted how this message echoes that used by Kamala Harris—and Joe Biden before her.
“It is no coincidence,” said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, “that Routh repeated Kamala’s and Joe’s extremist rhetoric against Donald Trump. At this point it is inexcusable incitement.”
Commentator Clay Travis added that the would-be assassin “was directly radicalized by the rhetoric of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to try to kill Trump.”
The New York Post has reported that Routh, who has a “lengthy criminal record,” posted about politics “frequently” and “exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019.”
Routh claimed online that Trump wanted to “make Americans slaves again,” and urged then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden to campaign on keeping “America democratic and free.” Spokesmen for Harris and Biden did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment.
Responding to reports, Harris said on social media that “I am glad [Trump] is safe,” adding: “Violence has no place in America.”
The attempted assassin appeared also to have what the NY Times described as a “penchant for violent rhetoric”—particularly with regards to the war in Ukraine.
“I AM WILLING TO FLY TO KRAKOW AND GO TO THE BORDER OF UKRAINE TO VOLUNTEER AND FIGHT AND DIE,” he wrote.
Part of his WhatsApp bio also read: “Each one of us must do our part daily in the smallest steps help support human rights, freedom and democracy.”
Officials said that Routh appeared calm when he was arrested after the incident, and that he did not ask why he was being detained. A former neighbor described the suspected shooter as a “little cuckoo,” adding that everyone on the street was “afraid” of him.
Trump had no official events on his schedule on Sunday, and according to sources, the golf game was a last-minute addition to his itinerary.
