The Republican candidate believes that incendiary rhetoric by his opponents may have contributed to the second attack on his life
Former US President Donald Trump has suggested that the rhetoric from the Democratic party portraying him as a threat to electoral democracy may have contributed to the recent attempt on his life.
On Sunday, the Secret Service apprehended a gunman hiding in bushes at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The suspect fled in a car and was apprehended nearby shortly after, thanks to an eyewitness who alerted the police.
In a lengthy interview on X Spaces on Monday, Trump recounted the events and discussed the fact that this was apparently the second attempt to kill him in roughly two months. The first incident occurred at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania in mid-July, when a bullet fragment grazed Trump’s ear.
”Well, there’s a lot of rhetoric going on right now. A lot of people think that the Democrats, when they talk about ‘threat to democracy’ and all of this… And it seems that both of these people were radical lefts,” Trump stated, referring to the suspects in each instance.
In prior remarks about the incident in Pennsylvania, he had also suggested that political attacks against him could have influenced the perpetrator. The Democratic Party leadership has been branding the Republican candidate as a potential tyrant aiming to destroy the US political system, urging voters to support their candidate to safeguard the nation’s future.
Leading Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who the party has nominated for November’s election, have condemned both instances of violence targeting their opponent.
The shooter in Butler, a 20-year-old local man, was killed on the spot by counter-snipers. During Monday’s interview, Trump claimed that federal investigators faced challenges accessing the suspect’s personal devices.
The second person accused of attempting to kill Trump is a 58-year-old outspoken supporter of Ukraine, who reportedly voted for the Republican in the 2016 election but appears to have since shifted allegiances, now favoring the Democrats.
Trump praised the Secret Service and West Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office for their response to Sunday’s incident in Florida. Unlike in Pennsylvania, there were no fatalities or injuries and the suspect is now in custody, which he considered a positive outcome.
The politician reminded the audience that in July he survived only by chance and contemplated possible divine intervention.
”There’s something going on. Perhaps, it’s God wanting me to be president to save this country. Nobody knows,” he reflected.