The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was charged Monday with two federal gun crimes in connection with the incident.
Topline
Former President Donald Trump alleged Monday the suspected assassination attempt against him a day earlier was the direct result of “the rhetoric of Biden and Harris,” as Republicans have seized on the incident to flip the script on Democrats who have blamed Trump for political violence.Key Facts
Trump alleged in an interview with Fox News Digital the suspected shooter, Ryan Wesley Routh, “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” pointing to Biden and Harris’ comments casting Trump as a “threat to democracy,” a phrase frequently used by Democrats in referencing Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and his attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at,” Trump said a day after the Secret Service fired shots at a gunman authorities said appeared to be prepared to shoot Trump as he played a round at his Palm Beach course Sunday.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, has a long criminal history and has openly criticized Trump, who he said he voted for in 2016, writing in a self-published book he co-authored that Trump’s policies in the Middle East aided Russia in its war on Ukraine, calling Trump an “idiot,” a “buffoon,” and a “fool.
