Washington: Former US President Donald Trump has launched a blistering attack on Democrats, claiming that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ “rhetoric” is to blame for the second assassination attempt against him since July, according to media reports.
According to CNN, Trump stated on Monday that the alleged gunman “acted” on the “highly inflammatory language” of Democrats.
The Republican nominee’s scathing statements come a day after escaping an attack at the International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
During an interview with Fox News, the former President stated that the suspect “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it”.
Trump added, “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.”
The former President pointed to comments made by Biden and Harris that Trump is a threat to democracy, according to Fox News Digital, and said, “These are people that want to destroy our country.”
He said that Biden and Harris, “They are the real threat.”
“They use highly inflammatory language,” Trump said.
“I can use it too — far better than they can — but I don’t,” he added.
Harris, her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Biden all expressed relief that a guy suspected of plotting to attack Trump at one of his Florida golf facilities was apprehended before he could fire a shot and that the former President was safe.
Harris said she was briefed on the incident and wrote on social media: “I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”
Biden and Harris have both argued that Trump poses a serious threat to US democracy.
When Biden launched his 2024 campaign, which he has since halted, he highlighted the January 6, 2021, rebellion at the US Capitol that Trump incited, claiming Trump was “willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power”.
Similarly, Harris has argued Trump is a “threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms”.
Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected gunman, was armed with an AK-47-style weapon pointed through the chain-link fence towards the green, as well as a GoPro and two backpacks. Routh escaped the scene but was stopped and arrested on I-95, according to Fox News.
Following the shooting at his Florida golf course on Sunday, former US President Donald Trump stated that he is “absolutely safe and well.” He was playing golf at West Palm Beach’s Trump International Golf Club.
In a fundraising email, Trump wrote, “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumours start spiralling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!”
“Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me,” he said in the email. Trump is “safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” the Trump Campaign said in a statement on Sunday, according to CNN.
Soon after the incident, Trump ally Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina spoke with him and said that he was in “good spirits.”
The second assassination attempt on Trump occurred after he was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania by a shooter who killed one and injured others before being shot dead by police on July 13.
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–IANS
