Former president Donald Trump was the target in a second apparent assassination attempt, and former first lady Hillary Clinton is blaming him for “get[ting] people riled up” to commit political violence.
Clinton—who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump—made the comments in the aftermath of a near shooting at a Florida golf course over the weekend. Federal authorities arrested 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh after a Secret Service agent fired at him from his hiding spot in the bushes of the West Palm Beach golf course owned by Trump.
The suspect reportedly pointed a semiautomatic rifle towards Trump, though he was 400 yards away. He was charged on Monday September 16 with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and having a firearm without an identifiable serial number. Meanwhile, as the would-be shooter was being charged, Clinton told veteran journalist Katie Couric that the second assassination attempt was a “terrible thing” and a “horror.”
She also criticized her former rival nominee for “throw[ing] red meat” to the public which led to people being “riled up” and acting violently. Clinton expressed her concern about the second assassination attempt to take place through a “relatively short” time frame, adding that political violence is “frightening to witness” during the campaign cycle.
Couric then asked the former first lady about a post from Trump which indicated he blamed the Biden administration for twisting politics into a “whole new level” of intensity, including “hatred, abuse, and distrust.” Clinton said in response that she “worries” about threats and “what’s being said online.”
She then added that Trump, as a true leader, “should” act in whatever capacity he can to “calm the waters” instead of instigating the violence through his rhetoric. Clinton described her 2016 presidential rival as “durable” in the political field thanks to his ability to always make people “agitated,” “angry,” and “upset.”
She also encouraged “some sense of history” to be had along with a knowledge of the reality that “many” political structures in society include people who effectively “connect with” the “fears,” “insecurities,” “anger,” and “hatred” of citizens who become “very effective demagogues.”
She accused Trump’s rhetoric and actions as having “open[ed] that door” to this reality in the United States. The former president’s famous incendiary words have been pinned as the reason for other instances of violence in the country, including the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol Building.
But regardless of his lack of charity and arguably ineffective approach to his re-election campaign, Trump is far from deserving assassination attempts from disgruntled Americans. The second effort at the Florida golf course comes just over two months after he escaped with an ear injury during a fatal shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The July 13 incident has resulted in complete turmoil within government security agencies, leading the Secret Service director to resign and Congressional task forces on a quest to understand how the agency missed apparent warning signs that a shooter was going to make a move against the former president.
