ormer President Donald Trump on Monday sought to blame President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the apparent attempt on his life at his Florida golf club.
During an interview with Fox News Digital the former president said 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,” Trump said.
Harris, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Biden all quickly expressed relief that a person suspected of planning to target Trump at one of his Florida golf courses was spotted before he could get off 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 Trump presents a clear threat to US democracy. When Biden kicked off his 2024 campaign which he has since suspended, he pointed to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol that Trump incited and argued Trump was “willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power.” Harris has argued Trump is a “threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”
Trump frequently uses inflammatory rhetoric when attacking his political rivals, judges overseeing his criminal cases, prosecutors who have brought charges against him, undocumented immigrants, people who don’t support his campaign and others. Trump has vowed retribution if he is reelected and has repeatedly suggested he would weaponize the justice system to prosecute his political opponents. Trump also recently threatened prosecution and “long term prison sentences” for election officials and political operatives, who he suggested could cheat in the 2024 election.
