In the wake of the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the former president and current presidential candidate is blaming the rhetoric of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump argues that their “highly inflammatory language” incited these violent actions against him.
The interview occurred Monday morning, just a day after Trump was swiftly evacuated from Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., when the Secret Service discovered gunman Ryan Wesley Routh's rifle poking through the bushes into the golf course. Routh, armed with a scoped AK-47-style rifle and equipped with a GoPro camera and two backpacks, fled the scene, but police later apprehended him on I-95.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump told Fox News on Monday. “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.”
Trump highlighted Biden and Harris’ past portrayal of him as a “threat to democracy” while simultaneously claiming to be "unity" leaders. Trump is correct, as the suspected shooter, Ryan Wesley Routh, has reportedly echoed Biden and Harris’ anti-Trump rhetoric on social media.
"They are the opposite," Trump said. “These are people that want to destroy our country. It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”
Routh has a lengthy rap sheet that goes back decades, and he exclusively donates to Democratic candidates and causes.
"They do it with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits they wrap me up in," Trump told Fox News. "These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to — that is the rhetoric they listen to, and the same with the first one."
Democrats, meanwhile, have repeatedly blamed Trump for raising the temperature and have accused him of being a "threat to democracy," particularly due to his handling of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Over the weekend, Biden suggested Trump was trying to incite violence, referring to his comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
Biden, at an event over the weekend, said "any president should reject hate in America" and "not incite it."
The White House, Harris' campaign, and the office of Minnesota Gov. Time Walz, Harris' running mate, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Trump also accused Biden and Harris of "destroying" the country by allowing "millions of very dangerous migrants to pour into it and destroying our country and cities."
Reflecting on last week's debate with Harris, Trump lashed out at the media, calling them biased and accusing them of protecting Democrats. He described the ABC News debate as "biased and out of control," accusing Harris of lying about issues like Project 2025 and abortion. Trump also criticized moderator David Muir, calling him "a sleaze like the rest of them."
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