Anti-Trump rhetoric comes under scrutiny after golf course threat

The apparent assassination attempt Sunday on former President Trump — the second in just two months — is raising questions about whether the rhetoric against him is going too far, and if politicians need to take steps to cool tensions. 

The motivation of the suspect in Sunday’s incident is not clear, and experts cautioned against drawing a direct link between campaign rhetoric and the actions of those who would attempt violence against a candidate.

But some saw the latest threat to Trump as the fallout of close to a decade of near-constant verbal and social media attacks on the former president, a deeply polarizing figure who inspires intense feelings among both his supporters and his critics.

“Why hasn’t Kamala told her supporters yet that Trump is not a threat to democracy, is not a dictator, and condemned her party’s relentless demonization of Republicans as ‘Nazis’ who ‘must be stopped,’” senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller posted on the social platform X, referencing Vice President Harris. “When will she take accountability for her & her party’s rhetoric of incitement?”

“He’s been skewered over the last eight years, being compared to Nazis and Hitler and fascists …and racists, all the ‘isms’ that you can possibly imagine,” Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said on Fox News. “We should have a spirited exchange of ideas. But, you know, attack the ideas, not the person.”

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two gun crimes after allegedly pushing the muzzle of a rifle through the fence along the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida while he was there, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire at him.

The incident came roughly two months after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., hitting the former president in the ear. One rally attendee, as well as the gunman, died.

“Sadly this is not out of our norm,” said John Murphy, a professor at the University of Illinois who studies political rhetoric. He pointed to the violence of the 1960s, when there were multiple successful assassination attempts on political figures. 

“I just think it’s very hard to draw a cause-effect relationship between particular statements and an attempt on somebody’s life,” Murphy said of the violence targeting Trump. “There’s certainly an argument that we can become callous toward violence. Part of the frustration on the part of Republicans may be that not enough attention is being paid to these attacks.”

The July assassination attempt that left Trump bloodied spurred calls on both sides of the aisle for cooler heads to prevail and led those close to the former president to suggest the experience had left a deep and lasting impression on him. But it was a matter of days before fiery campaign rhetoric returned.

After Sunday’s incident, there was no break in the campaign at all, with both sides continuing to run ads in what has been a tightly fought contest.

Trump and his advisers were quick to point fingers and claim Harris and Democrats had encouraged the threats against him.

Trump, in comments to Fox News and posts on social media, explicitly connected Routh’s actions with the rhetoric of his political opponents who have called him a threat to democracy. He also claimed the numerous lawsuits he’s facing at the federal and state level were fueling violence against him.

“These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to. That is the rhetoric they listen to, and the same with the first one,” Trump told Fox News.

The Trump campaign shared Monday a list of more than three dozen instances where President Biden, Harris and other Democrats labeled him as a threat who needed to be stopped, eliminated or defeated. Many of those comments were referring to Trump as a threat to democracy or to basic freedoms, like abortion access, and some Democrats later apologized for comments that drew backlash.

It reflected broader frustration among some in Trump’s circle who feel he’s frequently taken out of context, such as when he warned of an economic “bloodbath” if he loses in November, and is decried as an existential threat, even in the wake of the first attempt on his life that was nearly successful.

Dan Scavino, a senior aide on Trump’s campaign, posted on social media that Harris was “full of s—” for saying she was glad Trump was safe.

“It is your rhetoric that has caused this, AGAIN!!!!!” Scavino wrote.

Democrats and some Republicans reacted to Sunday’s incident by expressing gratitude to law enforcement and condemning political violence.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said it should be a “moment of soul-searching for all Americans. It’s a time to reflect on the ways that our political process has been injected by reprehensible violence.”

Harris said in a statement she was “deeply disturbed” by Sunday’s potential assassination attempt.

“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence,” Harris said in a statement. “We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.”

Trump himself has played a central part in escalating the political temperature in recent years. 

He encouraged supporters to “knock the crap” out of protesters at a 2016 rally. His repeated false claims about the 2020 election being rigged and stolen preceded the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Donald Trump Jr. mocked the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in 2022. 

Most recently, Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have spread debunked claims about Haitian migrants in an Ohio town, claiming they are abducting people’s pets. Even as state and local officials have pushed back on those claims, schools and government buildings have been evacuated in recent days due to bomb threats.

Late Sunday, X owner and Trump supporter Elon Musk caused a stir when he posted on the social media site: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”

“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said of Musk’s post.

Strategists noted that Harris has subtly shifted her messaging about Trump since replacing Biden atop the Democratic ticket. 

While Biden’s central argument against Trump was that he was a threat to democracy, Harris has spoken more broadly about turning the page on an era of divisiveness. When she has spoken about the threat Trump poses, it’s been in more specific terms, such as the possibility he would curb abortion access or be unrestrained by the Supreme Court.

“Her strategy has been to diminish him through laughter,” said Murphy, the University of Illinois professor. “Using humor to make him into somebody small. That’s continually been the effort.”