Security experts told Fox Digital that the threat to former President Trump is unique to him and far greater than the threat faced by other living former presidents because his incendiary political rhetoric has consistently portrayed him as “enemy number one of democracy.”
President Trump has faced two assassination attempts in just over two months, one on July 13 and the other on September 15. In the first incident, an assassin wounded President Trump and killed rally attendee, firefighter Cory Comperatore. There are no known recent assassination attempts on other former presidents, including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter, who has been in hospice care since February 2023.
“We get a lot of hate from both sides, and like I said, a lot of these comments are trying to convince people that, 'we can fix the problem,'” Gene Petrino, a former SWAT commander for the Plantation, Florida, Police Department and mass shooting expert, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “'We can't let this happen. We can't lose our freedoms. We can't lose this.' I'm not picking sides, and I've seen both sides do it, but unfortunately, Trump has been labeled as enemy number one for democracy.”
“He just set a higher footstep, so to speak, in terms of who could be assassinated among all presidents,” Petrino added.
Trump was safely escorted from his West Palm Beach golf club on Sunday afternoon after a man identifying himself as Ryan Routh allegedly pointed a rifle through a chain-link fence toward Trump's green. Routh was arrested shortly thereafter while trying to flee in a car in what authorities are investigating as an assassination attempt.
Trump assassin suspect laughs and smiles at first court appearance in Florida
On July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, former President Trump was photographed with a bloodied face being rushed off a stage by Secret Service agents. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
The attack marked the second assassination attempt on Trump in just a few months. Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. The shooting, carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, injured two rally attendees and killed Comperatore while trying to protect his family.
Petrino said he hasn't heard of any plots against living former presidents, but the Secret Service should consider a second plot against Trump when protecting other presidents.
“Right now they've done two in the space of a couple of months. Something is going on. We'd better step up our efforts across the board, not just on Trump but on everyone,” he said, noting that while Harris and Biden were also being targeted, Trump had “more influence” among former presidents.
“There are keyboard warriors. It's like a drug. They go out and spew hate and venom online. (The internet) allows these people to suffer from their own mental illness.”
House Democratic Leader Says 'MAGA Must Stop' After Second Report of Trump Assassination Attempt
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Clinton, Obama and Bush to ask whether there were any heightened concerns or increased security following the second assassination attempt on Trump, but did not receive a response.
FBI agents remove boxes of evidence from the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (via Mega, Fox News Digital)
When asked about security measures surrounding former presidents, the Secret Service told Fox Digital on Tuesday that it had “heightened” security around “protected individuals” following the first assassination attempt on Trump.
“Following the incident on July 13, the U.S. Secret Service has increased its protection posture for subjects and, where necessary, increased protective resources to ensure the highest level of safety and security for subjects,” the Secret Service told Fox Digital. “For operational security reasons, we cannot comment on the specific methods or methods used in protective operations.”
Bill Stanton, a security expert and former New York Police Department officer, added in an interview with Fox Digital that the “perfect storm of escalating rhetoric” surrounding the election cycle has made Trump a prime target for people who are “self-radicalized” by his inflammatory rhetoric.
Trump blames Biden-Harris 'comments' for latest assassination attempt, says they'll 'save the country'
“Keyboard warriors are like a drug, they go out and spew their hate and venom online,” he said. “(The internet) has allowed these people to suffer from their mental illness, and when that drug wasn't enough, now we're seeing it move from the cyber world into the real world, like in The Matrix.”
The morning after the attempted attack, President Trump spoke on Fox Digital and held Democrats responsible for the second attempted attack.
“(The suspects) believed what Biden and Harris were saying and they followed it,” Trump said in the interview. “I'm being shot because of what they're saying, but I'm in a position to save our country. They're destroying our country from the inside out.”
“It's called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,” Trump added.
Petrino said he believes the attacks on Trump are “unique” to the 45th president.
“[Trump]is the polar opposite of all politicians and really goes against the views of a lot of people,” Petrino said. “…The political division in our country is out of control right now. The rhetoric that's being said on both sides has to stop. It perpetuates this and it emboldens people who may not have the mental capacity to think critically about things to say, 'Oh, I'm going to be the savior and save democracy.'”
Armed man arrested at Trump golf course, Ryan Routh, frequently posts about Trump and politics
Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Trump, stands in handcuffs after being arrested near Palm City, Florida, on September 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Distributed via Reuters)
Fox News Digital reviewed Routh's social media on Sunday night before his accounts were suspended and found that he had mimicked Democratic political rhetoric, including declaring, “Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
“Your campaign should be named something like KADAF. Make America a democratic and free country. Trump should be MASA… Make Americans masters instead of slaves again. Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot fail. The world is counting on us to show the way,” read one message from X posted in April, before Biden dropped out of the race in July and Harris emerged as the top Democratic presidential candidate.
Both Harris and Biden have repeatedly said this year is a “democratic election.” The White House, Biden and Harris have also described Trump as a “threat” to democracy.
During a White House press conference on Tuesday, Fox News' Peter Doocy asked whether the administration would stop using the word “threat” to describe President Trump in the wake of the second assassination attempt. In his questioning, Doocy noted that President Trump has made similar attacks against Biden and Harris.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take the stage during the Congressional Black Caucus' Phoenix Awards ceremony, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“How many more assassination attempts will it take against Donald Trump before the president and vice president are comfortable describing him in words other than 'a threat'?” Doocy asked.
Jean-Pierre told Doocy he totally disagreed with the premise of his question and called the way he asked it “incredibly dangerous” with Americans watching.
The White House continues to call Trump a “threat” to democracy despite multiple attempts to assassinate the former president.
“What I said about the president, the former president, about January 6th is a fact that you've reported. It's a fact. You had a former president basically saying that the election was not an election … and over 60 Republican judges, dozens of them, said it was a free and fair election,” Jean-Pierre said. “Over 2,000 people were instructed to go to the Capitol. It was one of the darkest days, one of the darkest days of our democracy.”
“You're right,” Doocy added. “People watching at home might miss the part where you say, 'Let's turn the temperature down.' And… mentally unstable people are trying to kill a political candidate… trying to kill Donald Trump. And they're still hearing the White House call Trump a threat. Aren't you worried that people are taking that literally?”
Jean-Pierre pointed to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters broke into the Capitol, as an example of why the administration described Trump as a “threat.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Wednesday for additional comment on the claim that the second attempted attack on Trump was driven by heightened political rhetoric, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Both Harris and Biden condemned Sunday's attack on Trump, calling him after the incident and also condemning an attack in Pennsylvania in July.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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