Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) slammed Democrats and the media Tuesday over their rhetoric about former President Trump, just days after the former president faced a second apparent assassination attempt.
“I want to just address the elephant in the room here, which is, of course, just a couple of days ago, my running mate, my dear friend, and our next president, was nearly assassinated again. Two assassination attempts in as many months,” Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, told a crowd Tuesday during a campaign event in Sparta, Mich.
“And I think that it’s time to say to Democrats, to the media, to everybody that has been attacking this man and trying to censor this man for going on 10 years, cut it out or you’re going to get somebody killed,” he said.
His criticism comes after Secret Service agents noticed a man pushing a rifle’s muzzle through the perimeter of Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday. The agents, posted just a few holes ahead of the GOP nominee, fired toward the man, who fled the scene before firing any shots of his own.
Authorities found two bags, a loaded rifle with a scope and other items at the scene. The suspect, identified at 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested in connection with the apparent assassination attempt and charged Monday with two federal gun crimes.
The incident follows an assassination attempt against Trump in July, when a shooter opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally and a bullet grazed the former president’s ear. The gunman was shot down after one rallygoer was killed and two others were injured.
Vance addressed the Butler, Pa., shooting Tuesday, saying Trump “didn’t hide in the basement” after the violence because he wants to be the “people’s president.”
“By the way, with close to 500 patriots in the state of Michigan in this building right now and outside, I’d like to see an assassin try to come in this room,” the Ohio senator said. “They come to the wrong place if you try to walk into this place right now.”
After the most recent attempt on Trump’s life, Vance said the GOP nominees will continue to talk to voters ahead of the election, but he called for Trump to have the same level of security that President Biden enjoys.
“That is a policy choice that our federal government has decided that Donald Trump deserves a lesser level of protection,” Vance said. “Maybe with any normal former president that makes sense, it clearly doesn’t meet the challenge of what Donald J. Trump is dealing with. So, we ought to bump up his security.”
Security near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was increased after the July assassination attempt.
Increased protection is necessary, Vance argued, because Democrats like Biden and Vice President Harris and the media are spreading a “ridiculous rhetoric” that puts a target on Trump’s back.
“Don’t lecture Donald Trump about softening his rhetoric after two people tried to kill him, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “Tell Kamala Harris, tell Joe Biden, tell all of her surrogates who are saying things like ‘Donald Trump needs to be eliminated,’ they need to cut that crap out or they are gonna get somebody hurt.”
The first-term senator admitted that polarizing rhetoric comes from both political parties, but said “what is one sided is that our guy is the one who keeps getting shot at.”
The FBI said in August they have not determined what motivated the 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, to open fire at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally but there was an effort to find “any number of events or targets.”
Routh was charged this week with possessing a firearm, despite being a convicted felon, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. A federal court judge scheduled his arraignment for Sept. 30.
The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.