As the headlines spread like wildfire Former President Donald Trump Possibly targeted in a second assassination attempt, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted a message to X, urging supporters to “stop” “extreme MAGA Republicans.”
“Extreme MAGA Republicans are the party of national abortion restrictions and Trump’s Project 2025,” Jeffries posted on X at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
“We have to stop them.”
The statement was posted shortly after reports that Trump was safe amid what authorities described as a possible assassination attempt on him.
Trump assassination attempt suspect smiles and laughs during first court appearance in Florida
US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference on House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry against President Biden at the US Capitol on September 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Authorities in West Palm Beach, Florida, received the call. Shooting at Trump International Golf Club Around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, the Trump campaign released a statement shortly after 2 a.m. that the 45th president was “safe following gunfire around him.”
About two hours after Jeffries posted about fending off “extreme MAGA Republicans,” he condemned the attack against Trump, posting at 5:33 p.m., “Political violence has no place in a democratic society.”
Trump spoke to Fox Digital on Monday morning and blamed the rhetoric of Democrats, specifically President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for the attempt on his life.
“(The suspect) believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris and he acted accordingly,” Trump said in the interview. “Because of their rhetoric, I’m getting shot at, when I’m the one who’s supposed to save the country, and they’re the ones destroying the country — both from the inside and the outside.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena on September 4, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“It’s called the internal enemy. They’re the real threat,” Trump said.
Eyewitnesses see Trump assassination suspect running through bushes, photograph getaway car
Trump said their ABC News debate last week was “very partisan and out of control,” citing Harris’ comments that Trump supports Project 2025 and a national abortion ban. Jeffries also referenced Project 2025 and alleged plans for a national abortion ban in his X post on Sunday.
“Harris was the one lying about Project 2025, she lied about abortion, she lied about everything,” Trump said. “She was correcting me.”
Screenshot: ABC News Presidential Debate broadcast on Fox News (Screenshot: ABC News Presidential Debate broadcast on Fox News)
Project 2025 was underwritten by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank; Trump repeatedly said during the campaign that he had no role in crafting the bill that was touted as a blueprint for a future Republican administration. Trump has also repeatedly said he would not enact a national abortion ban if re-elected, insisting that abortion issues should be left to individual states.
officials confirmed Fox Digital learned that the suspect arrested at the golf club on Sunday is 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a Hawaii native who has posted extensively about Trump and politics on social media.
Routh, who currently lives in Hawaii, spent most of his life in North Carolina, where he worked in construction, including owning a company called United Roofing, a background check conducted by Fox Digital shows.
The suspect’s alleged social media account on Sunday afternoon showed he had repeatedly criticized Trump, the war in Ukraine, 2020 Elections and Other World Events,
The article also commented on the attempted assassination of Trump in July, stating that Vice President Kamala Harris to visit people injured at the Pennsylvania Trump rally, because “Trump would never do anything for them.”
President Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands onstage at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards Dinner on Saturday, September 14, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
In a reply message to Harris’ account on July 17, he said, “You and Biden should visit the people injured at Trump’s rally in the hospital and attend the funeral of the firemen who were killed. Trump will never do anything for them… Show the world what compassion and humanity are.”
In another X post published on April 22, Routh quoted a phrase commonly used by the Harris campaign, saying, “Democracy is on the ballot and we can’t lose.”
“Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America Democratic and Free. Trump must be MASA… Americans must be made slaves again. Democracy is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is looking to us to lead the way,” the post read in July, before Biden dropped out of the race and Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket.
During his interview with Fox Digital, he cited Democrats’ description of him as a “threat to democracy” as a possible motivation for the attacks against him in recent weeks. He argued that while Democrats like Biden and Harris call him a “threat to democracy,” he describes himself as a “unity” leader.
Ryan Routh, the armed man arrested at Trump golf course, used to post a lot about Trump and politics
“They’re the opposite. These are people who want to destroy our country,” Trump said.
The X account, which appeared to belong to Routh, also repeatedly posted messages related to the war in Ukraine, and sent a message to X saying he was willing to travel to Ukraine to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He posted on February 17, 2022, “I’m going to Ukraine to fight. We need to launch a media campaign to encourage every human being in the world to meet in Ukraine and join the fight. We need hundreds of thousands of civilians to raise the cost of the war for Putin and bring in a flood of fighters.”
Ryan Routh, a suspect in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, is seen being taken into custody on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in bodycam footage released Monday. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office)
After repeated messages expressing his intention to fight for Ukraine, he posted in April that he was in Kyiv.
“I’m here in Kyiv and want to use the Independence Park to create a tent city for all the foreigners who are here, so that thousands of foreign citizens can come here and support Ukraine,” the account posted.
Routh has more than a decade of felony convictions against him, most notably in North Carolina, where he was arrested dozens of times for car violations such as driving without insurance, driving without a license and driving with an expired registration.
Donald Trump is safe after shooting outside Palm Beach golf club
In 2002, Routh made local headlines when he was arrested at his roofing company’s office after a three-hour standoff with police, as the Greensboro News & Record reported at the time. Stopped by the police He put his hand on the gun during the traffic stop, which led him to United Roofing and barricaded himself in the building. He was ultimately arrested without incident.
Ryan Routh is shown in a court sketch in federal court in West Palm, Florida, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. Routh is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with the serial number obliterated. Routh is suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (Lothar Speer)
Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after he allegedly pointed a rifle through a chain-link fence toward where Trump was golfing, authorities said.
Routh fled the scene in his car but got arrested on I-95,
He appeared in federal court Monday morning wearing shackles and a prison uniform. He was seen laughing and smiling before his first court appearance.
Ryan Routh is accused of pointing a rifle at former President Donald Trump while he was playing golf at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday. It is being investigated as a second assassination attempt on Trump. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
He is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with the serial number obliterated. Additional charges could be filed against him, officials said.
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Routh is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 30.
Shortly after the attempt, Trump reassured supporters that he was “safe and sound” and vowed to “never surrender.”
“There were gunshots all around me, but before the rumors get out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I am safe and sound!” he wrote in his campaign message. “Nothing can stop me. I will never surrender.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ office regarding his X-post and Trump’s comments on Sunday in which he blamed Democratic rhetoric for the effort, but did not immediately receive a response.
