This is more than unacceptable.
Donald Trump deserves better protection than this. The country deserves better for the president who was and possibly will be the future president.
If the Secret Service can't protect Trump on his own golf course, what has become of our political system?
Especially since the alleged shooter with the AK-47 type rifle has a criminal record.
SUSPECT 'RYAN ROUTH' IS IN DETENTION AFTER A SECOND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST TRUMP AT A FLORIDA GOLF CLUB
The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in two months is deeply chilling. The first, in which a bullet grazed his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime fluke. Sunday’s attempt, at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, seemed predictable, though Secret Service agents, to their credit, reacted more quickly.
Although the suspect was only a few hundred yards away, an officer, seeing the rifle barrel protruding from the fence, shot the gunman, who was soon captured and arrested.
While the shooter (whom I am not naming to avoid giving him the infamy he craved, as evidenced by his GoPro camera) has a criminal record, that did not stop him from obtaining the assault rifle.
The fact that former President Trump was nearly assassinated, yet again, by a gunman seeking notoriety is nothing short of unacceptable. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
He faced two weapons charges in court yesterday: possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a Soviet-era semi-automatic rifle, developed in the 1940s, with an obliterated serial number.
Investigators say the suspect had a loaded SKS-style semi-automatic assault rifle.
Trump was reported to have been initially shaken (who wouldn't be?), but later joked about wanting to finish his putt and spent time talking to reporters and supporters.
Trump shooting plot suspect Routh interviewed by New York Times about Ukraine war efforts in 2023: 'IT SOUNDED RIDICULOUS'
It took less than 24 hours for the former president to blame Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, although both had issued statements of condolences, with the vice president saying she is “deeply disturbed” by what happened in Florida.
Trump told Fox's Brooke Singman:
“He believed Biden and Harris' rhetoric, and he acted on it. Their rhetoric is getting me shot, when I'm the one who's going to save the country, and they're the ones destroying the country, both from within and without.”
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris and acted on it,” the former president told Fox's Brooke Singman. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump cited Biden and Harris's earlier comments as a “threat to democracy,” while claiming they are leaders of “unity.”
“They are the complete opposite,” Trump said. “These are people who want to destroy our country…
“They're called the enemy within. They're the real threat. They do it with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits that they're involving me in. These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, hear; that's the rhetoric they hear, and the same with the first one,” Trump said.
And finally: “They use extremely provocative language. I can use it too, much better than them, but I don’t.”
I doubt that one can find many people, even among the former president's allies, who would say that he does not sometimes use provocative language, 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 an article about Americans volunteering to fight in Ukraine.
Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh was seen being detained on Sunday, September 15, 2024, in body camera footage released Monday. (Martin County Sheriff's Office)
By the time they finished talking on the phone, Thomas Gibbons-Neff writes of the suspect's plan to bring several hundred Afghan fighters to support Ukraine, “it was clear that he was involved in something bigger than he was.”
“He talked about bribing corrupt officials, forging passports and doing whatever it took to get his Afghan cadres into Ukraine, but he had no real way of achieving his goals. At one point he mentioned organizing a U.S. military transport flight from Iraq to Poland with Afghan refugees willing to fight.
“I shook my head. It sounded ridiculous, but the tone in which… [his] “The voice said otherwise. He was going to support the war effort in Ukraine, no matter what.”
RYAN ROUTH, ARMED GUNMAN AT TRUMP'S GOLF COURSE, POSTED PROLIFICLY ABOUT TRUMP AND POLITICS
In a book that sells for $2.99 and was published in the Washington Post, the gunman wrote that he “must take some of the blame” for having elected a “brainless” president, obviously referring to Trump. “You are free to kill Trump and me for that error in judgment and for dismantling the deal,” the book states.
Okay, so he didn't like Trump (whereas the Butler shooter was willing to kill Trump or the president), but what connects these and other shootings is that these are losers in life, desperate to leave some kind of mark.
Biden, by the way, told reporters yesterday: “Thank God the president is okay… the service needs more help. And I think Congress should respond to their needs if in fact they need more services.”
Despite Democrats' insinuations that rhetoric is to blame for political violence, they join mainstream media in criticizing Trump and Vance for their alleged incitement of anti-immigrant violence. (Screenshot/CNN)
In 2022, a woman who described herself as the suspect's fiancée raised nearly $2,000 by saying the suspect “put his life at home on hold and traveled to Kyiv in April to support the people of Ukraine. He plans to stay at least 90 days and is staying in a shelter with a military unit.” There were photos.
This is where the whole thing is steeped in hypocrisy. In the wake of the events of January 6 and Trump's unproven allegations of a stolen election, why shouldn't Democrats be able to criticize him?
But while denying that their rhetoric may be poisoning the atmosphere, Democrats are turning around and blaming Trump and JD Vance for inciting violence in Springfield, Ohio, where a series of bomb threats (which cannot be attributed to any public figure) have shut down schools, city hall and a hospital.
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The 15,000 or so Haitians there under protected status who are taking jobs in the city have caused friction, but Trump's “they're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats” line, though debunked, has gone viral on social media. That's why Democrats are more than happy to throw around the charge of incitement when migrants are involved.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire tweeted: “Anyone who assassinated Kamala Harris would be an American hero.” That’s sick. The party later removed post X, but only to comply with a vendor’s rules.
It is difficult to protect a presidential candidate on a golf course, because members and even regular players have access to a large, flat area with almost no hiding place. The Secret Service, for its part, had asked Trump to hold events exclusively indoors so its agents could control access, but he decided not to do so.
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And the most curious thing is that if Trump returned to the White House, the agency would close the entire golf course to protect it. But for now, the Secret Service cannot do so (or does not want to do so), even though Trump is one of two people who could be in the Oval Office next January.
That should change immediately, because this is starting to look like Russian roulette.
