This is completely unacceptable.
Donald Trump deserves better protection than this. As a former president and potential future president, the country deserves better protection.
If the Secret Service can't protect Trump on his own golf course, what's wrong with our political system?
In particular, the suspect, who was in possession of an AK-47 type rifle, has a criminal record.
Second assassination attempt on Trump takes place at Florida golf club; suspect Ryan Routh arrested
The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in two months is deeply frightening. The first, a grazed earshot in Butler, Pennsylvania, seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime coincidence. Sunday's assassination attempt on Trump's West Palm Beach course was more predictable, but Secret Service agents responded more quickly.
The suspect was only a few hundred yards away, but when agents saw the barrel of a rifle protruding from the fence, they fired at him and he was quickly captured and arrested.
Although the gunman has a criminal record (we will not reveal his name to avoid the notoriety he craved, as evidenced by a GoPro camera), that did not prevent him from acquiring an assault rifle.
The fact that former President Trump was nearly assassinated by yet another notorious gunman is completely unacceptable. (Source: Fox News Digital)
He was in court yesterday charged with two firearms charges: possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and possessing a Soviet-era semi-automatic rifle developed in the 1940s with the serial numbers obliterated.
Investigators said the suspect had a loaded SKS-style semi-automatic assault rifle.
Trump was reportedly shaken at first — and who isn't? — but then joked about wanting to make a putt and spent the time talking to journalists and supporters.
Routh, suspected Trump plotter, interviewed by New York Times about 2023 Ukraine war activities: 'It sounded ridiculous'
It took less than 24 hours for the former president to condemn Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, who both issued statements of sympathy, with the vice president saying he was “deeply saddened” by the events in Florida.
Trump told Fox's Brooke Singman.
“He believed Biden and Harris' words and acted on them. I'm being shot at because of their words, but I'm the one who's going to save this country, and they're destroying it from the inside and out.”
“He believed Biden and Harris at their word and acted on it,” the former president told Fox's Brooke Singman. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
While Trump has billed Biden and Harris as leaders of “unity,” he has also called their past comments a “threat to democracy.”
“They are the exact opposite,” Trump said. “They are people who want to destroy our country…”
“They call it the enemy from within. They are the real threat. They use a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits to implicate me. It's this kind of rhetoric that dangerous fools like shooters listen to, and it was the same in the first incident,” Trump said.
And finally, “They use very inflammatory language. I can use it much better than they can, but I don't.”
Even among the former president's allies, few would say he hasn't used inflammatory language at times, with each side portraying the other as a danger to democracy.
A New York Times reporter interviewed the 58-year-old gunman last year for a story about Americans who volunteered to fight in Ukraine.
Ryan Routh, the suspect in an attempted assassination attempt on President Trump, was seen being taken into custody on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in body camera footage released on Monday. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
By the time she hung up the phone, Thomas Gibbons Neff wrote, “it was clear that the situation was out of control” regarding the suspect's plans to send hundreds of Afghan fighters to aid Ukraine.
“He said he would bribe corrupt officials, forge passports and do whatever it took to get Afghan officials to Ukraine, but he had no real way to achieve his goal. At one point he said he would arrange for a U.S. military plane to fly Afghan refugees eager to fight from Iraq to Poland.”
“I shook my head. It sounded stupid, but the tone of his voice said it wasn't. He was going to support the Ukrainian war effort no matter what.”
Armed man arrested at Trump golf course, Ryan Routh, frequently posts about Trump and politics
In the $2.99 book, The Washington Post reports, the killer writes that “he must bear some of the blame” for choosing a “dumb” president, an apparent reference to Trump. “Feel free to assassinate me, as well as Mr. Trump, for errors of judgment and broken agreements,” the book declares.
Sure, he didn't like Trump (and the Butler shooter did intend to kill Trump or the president), but what these and other mass shootings have in common is that they were losers in life, desperate to make some kind of mark.
Incidentally, Biden told reporters yesterday, “Thank God the president is OK… These services need more support. And if they really do need more services, I think Congress should meet their needs.”
Democrats, despite implying that political violence is caused by speech, have joined the mainstream media in grilling Trump and Vance for allegedly inciting anti-immigrant violence. (Screenshot/CNN)
In 2022, a woman claiming to be the suspect's fiancee raised about $2,000 by stating, “The suspect suspended his life at home and traveled to Kiev in April to support the Ukrainian people. He plans to stay for at least 90 days and is staying in a military unit hostel.” Photographs were also included.
Here's the hypocrisy in all this: Why can't Democrats criticize Trump in the wake of the events of January 6th and his unproven allegations of election fraud?
But Democrats have denied that their words may have inflamed the atmosphere, and instead accused Trump and J.D. Vance of inciting violence in Springfield, Ohio, where a series of bomb threats (which cannot be attributed to a public figure) have shut down schools, city hall and the hospital.
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The town's roughly 15,000 protected Haitians who work there have caused friction — Trump's “they eat dogs, they eat cats” comments, though debunked, have drawn online ridicule — and Democrats are happy to slap sedition charges where immigration is concerned.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire tweeted, “Anyone who murders Kamala Harris will be an American hero.” How horrible. The party later removed X's post, but only to comply with the ISP's rules.
Guarding a presidential candidate on a golf course is difficult because even members and regular players have access to long, flat areas with few places to hide. Meanwhile, the Secret Service has asked Trump to hold only indoor rallies so agents can control access, but he has refused.
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Here's the crazy thing: If Trump were to return to the White House, the Secret Service would close off the entire golf course to protect him, but right now, they can't and won't do that, even though Trump is one of only two people likely to occupy the Oval Office in January.
That should change soon, because this is starting to feel like Russian roulette.
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