Trump blames Democrat ‘rhetoric’ as suspect in assassination attempt charged with gun crimes: Live updates

Donald Trump was reportedly in relatively good spirits on Sunday afternoon despite experiencing a second assassination attempt on his life – this time while playing a round of golf.

The former president apparently joked with allies and advisers that he was disappointed he wasn’t able to finish his game.

Ariana Baio has the full story:

The suspected gunman in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Florida did not have a direct line of sight to the former president, and was not able to fire any shots at him due to the swift reaction of the Secret Service.

Ronald Rowe, the agency’s acting director said that Ryan Routh, had fled the scene after being ahot at by an agent.

“He did not fire or get off any shots at our agents with reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location,” Rowe told reporters on Monday.

Ronald Rowe, acting chief of the Secret Service said that the agency was still investigating whether or not 58-year-old Ryan Routh had acted alone.

“We’re still exploring that,” Rowe told reporters on Monday afternoon. “Our investigation will determine that [but] we do not have information that he’s been acting with anyone else at present.”

Acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe said that the Secret Service response to the attempted assassination on Donald Trump Florida had been “textbook.”

“Yesterday afternoon this country was reminded of the heightened and dynamic threat environment the United States Secret Service and its protectees face on a daily basis,” he told reporters on Monday afternoon.

“What was critical to this was the quick reaction, the response, the hyper-vigilance of the men and women of the United States Secret Service who since July, 13 have been rising to meet an unprecedented and hyperdynamic threat environment, and they are rising to this moment.

“I could not be more proud of them and the way they have executed, not only yesterday, but what they’re doing today, and what they are doing tomorrow, and what they will always do because it is their duty.”

Donald Trump has blamed the “Communist Left Rhetoric” for attempts on his life following the incident at his golf course in Florida.

“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,” the former president wrote on X.

“Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!”

Elon Musk has deleted what he now claims was a “joke” about how “no one is trying to assassinate” President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris following the second attempt on Donald Trump’s life on Sunday.

The Tesla CEO, whose companies hold millions of dollars in government contracts, removed his post on X following fierce backlash over his comments.

Read more from Rhian Lubin here:

The two assassination attempts on Donald Trump’s life – just 64 days apart – reveal a landscape of political violence in what has become a vicious and, at times, dark presidential campaign.

Donald Trump will participate in an event on X Spaces on Monday to launch his cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial.

The event at 8pm, including an address, will take place from Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, shortly after an apparent second attempt on the former president’s life.

“We’re embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind,” Trump said in a video posted Thursday afternoon on social platform X.

Trump is also due to give an interview to Fox News’ Sean Hannity.