Members of the liberal media and punditry class blamed former President Donald Trump for Ryan Wesley Routh’s alleged assassination attempt Sunday and downplayed the attempt on Trump’s life immediately after the news broke.
Authorities apprehended Routh after Secret Service say they spotted him with a weapon near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Routh appeared to vote in North Carolina’s Democratic primary in March, according to the BBC.
Rachel Vindman, the wife of former National Security Council member and outspoken Trump critic Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (Ret.), tweeted a series of posts downplaying the attempt and blaming Trump.
“No ears were harmed. Carry on with your Sunday afternoon,” Vindman tweeted shortly after news broke. The line was apparently a reference to the first attempt on Trump’s life, when attempted assailant Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in his ear during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Sorry you’re triggered,” she added, before immediately saying, “I mean no I’m not. I don’t care a little bit.”
“Trump has been inciting violence against his enemies for years. He douses a situation in gasoline, lights a match, & walks away claiming no responsibility,” she concluded in a third post, before deleting the tweets and claiming they were “flippant” remarks.
UPDATE:
My opponent, @YVindman, has still not condemned the horrible statements by his family members and political advisors tonight.
In fact, the Vindman family has actually doubled and tripled down on their hateful rhetoric and are now justifying the second failed… pic.twitter.com/45o6cH5NPD
— Derrick Anderson (@DerrickforVA) September 16, 2024
Despite apparently deleting the posts, Vindman left a number of similar retweeted posts on her timeline, including a tweet from left-wing podcaster Fred Wellman.
“Here comes the ‘Democrats need to tone down the rhetoric’ talking points. They are sending bomb and shooting threats to innocent people in Springfield, OH and MAGA doubles down. Spare me the bullshit. We are all happy to see Trump lose the election and go to jail when he is finally sentenced,” Wellman tweeted.
Here comes the “Democrats need to tone down the rhetoric” talking points. They are sending bomb and shooting threats to innocent people in Springfield, OH and MAGA doubles down. Spare me the bullshit. We are all happy to see Trump lose the election and go to jail when he is…
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) September 16, 2024
Wellman and Vindman were two of many left-wing pundits to seemingly insinuate that the ongoing storyline surrounding Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, was far more important than a second assassination attempt on a former president.
“Look at what is happening in Springfield, OH right now but he wants to claim he’s a victim. You cannot have it both ways,” Vindman wrote.
“Media – please go to Springfield and cover the story there. Not the one on the golf course in Florida. We’re watching,” pundit Rex Chapman pleaded.
Media – please go to Springfield and cover the story there. Not the one on the golf course in Florida. We’re watching.
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) September 16, 2024
CNN host Boris Sanchez wondered how Trump could tone down his rhetoric Monday, specifically noting “He also uses rhetoric that dehumanizes people, including immigrants.”
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican Congressman from Illinois who has since endorsed Kamala Harris, echoed the sentiments. (RELATED: Dana Bash Claims Second Would-Be Assassin’s ‘Anti-Trump Posts’ Have ‘Nothing To Do With Kamala Harris And Joe Biden’)
“Look violent rhetoric is wrong, and has no place. But MAGA pretending they didn’t light this fire is gaslighting to the 100th power. Since Trump showed up our politics has gone to crap. Literally just accused a group of people of eating our pets,” he tweeted Sunday night.
Look violent rhetoric is wrong, and has no place.
But MAGA pretending they didn’t light this fire is gaslighting to the 100th power. Since Trump showed up our politics has gone to crap.
Literally just accused a group of people of eating our pets.
So stop
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) September 16, 2024
Following their attempts to outright blame Trump for his own assassination attempts, Democrats returned to the very rhetoric that Trump blamed for putting his life in danger.
“The object in this case is Donald Trump, his demagoguery, his danger to our country,” failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told Rachel Maddow on Monday. She also called Trump a dictator and said he can’t be given another chance “to do harm to our country and the world.”
NEW: Hillary Clinton calls Trump a “dictator” who can’t be given “another chance to do harm to our country” just one day after a 2nd assass*nation attempt.
Clinton made the comments during an interview with far-left host Rachel Maddow.
“I don’t understand why it’s so difficult… pic.twitter.com/gglbLmM7E5
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 17, 2024