Debate Flashback: Trump Said Democrat Rhetoric Led Directly To Assassination Attempts Against Him
Would-be assassin Ryan Routh falsely claimed former President Donald Trump would “make Americans slaves again” and that “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot” in an April post on X.
Sound familiar?
It’s the same type of incendiary, assassination-prep language that has been used by left-wing corporate media for years to vilify and dehumanize Trump — rhetoric that Trump rightly blamed for his first assassination attempt during the recent presidential debate.
“I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me,” Trump said during the debate. “They talk about democracy — I’m a ‘threat to democracy.’ They’re the threat to democracy with the fake Russia-Russia-Russia investigation that went nowhere.”
Trump reiterated the message in a post on Monday on X.
“The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust,” Trump said in his post. “Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!”
It’s also the same message shared Sunday by former FBI Counterterrorism Agent Tim Clemente on CNN — who eerily predicted another assassination attempt if the current rhetoric about Trump continues.
“I would think we’re going to find that this guy is extremely politically motivated, Clemente said, “and that he probably was spurred on by much of the political diatribes that are going on these days, talking about Trump, equating him to Hitler, and things like that. So I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of crazies out there trying to do this right now.”
Such “diatribes” include that from The Washington Post’s Editor-at-Large Robert Kagan, who in a 2023 article said a “Trump dictatorship” is “increasingly inevitable” “unless something radical and unforeseen happens.” Kagan also alleged that the Trump administration would be akin to Hitler’s regime.
Politico published an article in December written by Holly Otterbein, Elena Schneider, and Jonathan Lemire that defended President Joe Biden’s comparison of Trump to Hitler, arguing “historians” also agree with such assertions.
Biden himself said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
The rhetoric continued even after Trump was injured during the July assassination attempt.
Democrat New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich called Trump “an existential danger to our democracy,” a claim often used by members of his party, its propaganda machine, and the would-be assassin to vilify Trump. It’s the type of propaganda designed to justify and incite the most egregious behavior and desensitize Americans, making future violence seem normal.
After the second assassination attempt, The Cincinnati Enquirer published a submission that justifies the attempt by saying that “there is no place in politics for violence,” but “Trump brings a lot of this stuff on himself.”
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump tried to allege that Democrats — who have spent months breathlessly calling Trump Hitler and a “threat” — are the real victims here, once again painting Trump as a threat and prepping justification for a potential third attempt. “Another chance for Trump to frame Democrats as dangerous has emerged,” Bump writes. “Trumpworld is eager to have Americans blame his opponents’ rhetoric for assassination attempts — both to nullify their arguments and to cast Trump as a victim.”
But only a corporate media complex complicit in inciting violence (as Trump pointed out) would shift the blame to the victim to dodge accountability.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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