Former US President Donald Trump and his team have said he has no plans of backing down after Sunday's alleged assassination attempt, the second in two months, and he will continue with his campaign. Team Trump and the former president have also blamed the "rhetoric" of President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, and their claims that he is a "threat to democracy", as the driving force behind the apparent attempt on his life, AP reported. Trump, who is known to make incendiary speeches against rivals, provided no evidence for his claims.
According to Reuters, Trump met with the US Secret Service acting head at his Palm Beach, Florida, home. On Monday, Biden and Trump had a telephone conversation, where the President reportedly conveyed his relief that he was safe. Trump later told CNN in a statement that it was “a very nice call".
On Sunday, a suspect was apprehended from Trump's Florida golf course after he was reportedly spotted with a weapon, hidden in the shrubbery that lines the compound. The former president was at the golf course at the time. In July, a sniper had opened fire at a Trump rally, killing one of the attendees and injuring the former president on his ear. The sniper was shot dead.
On Monday, Trump told Fox News Digital that the alleged would-be shooter detained on Sunday “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it".
He said that the Democrats’ rhetoric “is causing me to be shot at when I am the one who is going to save the country". “They [Democrats] are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” he added, saying that “it is called the enemy from within".
Trump claimed that “dangerous fools” like Sunday’s suspect are influenced by Democratic leaders.
His running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, said after Sunday that the Left needs to "tone down its rhetoric". "...No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months... I’d say that’s pretty strong evidence that the Left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out,” Vance added.
According to Reuters, there has been no indication the fresh apparent assassination attempt on Trump would dramatically alter his campaign movements or his strategy, with seven weeks to go before the November 5 election.