Former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated a second time in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just weeks after the first attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) showed no quarter to anti-Trump elected officials and media figures during an appearance on Fox News, blaming their rhetoric as radicalizing individuals into engaging in violence.
"I want to make a very important point here: This rhetoric against President Trump, this narrative that he will be the next dictator, that he is the next Hitler coming, it has got to stop. Enough is enough. Stop it on the left for doing this," Rep. Waltz began, reiterating that the Palm Beach shooting was the second attempt on the former president's life in weeks. During that time, a plot by Pakistani illegal alien Asif Merchant was uncovered.
"When you have this narrative coming from the left, from media, from elected officials, even that Trump has to be stopped by any means necessary, it should not surprise anyone that these people are being radicalized into taking action like this. So my message to them: If you truly care about our democracy, as you say, you let democracy play out with the voters and knock off this rhetoric. One person has already been killed in Butler, Pennsylvania, and but for the actions of one Secret Service agent today, there might have been more," Rep. Waltz continued, referencing former firefighter Corey Comperatore.
The host noted that would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh had left behind a GoPro camera at the scene, allegedly hoping to film the incident, mirroring how the Butler shooting was on live television. She asked Waltz if he believed there was a publicity or notoriety angle to Routh's potential motive, which the Florida Congressman agreed with.
"That is playing into this kind of public propaganda narrative that [Routh] would be some type of potential hero in stopping an authoritarian takeover of the United States, which is how the left repeatedly painting President Trump. I mean, they took what, three, four days' pause after [Trump] almost had his head blown off on national television. President Trump even said so during the debate where he said to [Vice President] Kamala Harris, 'You know, the things you are saying about me almost got me killed," Waltz concluded.
