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Trump sent an email appealing for fundraising hours after dodging a second assassination attempt.
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On Monday, Trump said Biden and Harris’ rhetoric “is getting me shot at.”
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Trump’s campaign has used the attempts on his life to mobilize his supporters and urge them to donate.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign launched a fundraiser hours after an assassination attempt was made at his Florida golf course, the second attempt on his life in two months.
In the email, Trump stressed that he would “NEVER OVERTAKE.” The email linked to a WinRed donation page that suggested donations ranging from $24 to $3,300, with the option to donate a custom amount.
Speaking to Fox News Digital early Monday morning about the attempt, Trump singled out his political opponents and claimed the shooting suspect was motivated by their comments.
“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris and he acted on it,” Trump said of Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old suspect. “Their rhetoric is getting me shot at, when I’m the one who’s going to save the country, and they’re the ones who are destroying the country.”
Authorities have not released any information about the suspect’s possible motive.
According to media outlets including the Associated Press, Routh had posted on social media that he was a former Trump voter and had endorsed several politicians, including Bernie Sanders, Nikki Haley, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
According to AP, Routh posted a message in April endorsing Biden, writing, “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we can’t lose.”
On Monday afternoon, Trump’s team sent another email regarding the alleged assassination attempt with the subject line: “Another attempt on Trump’s life.” The email carried a similar message.
“What we are seeing from Kamala Harris and her cronies in the media is disgusting,” the email reads in red italics. This time, JD Vance signed the message.
It is not the first time that Trump’s team has blamed Democrats for the attacks on his life. The team has also asked for donations after the attacks.
When Trump was attacked by a would-be assassin at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, the former president again blamed Democrats.
“When this happened, people were like, whose fault is this?” he said in an interview with Dr. Phil shortly after the incident. “I think to some extent it’s Biden’s fault and Harris’ fault.”
In that assassination attempt, a Secret Service sniper shot and killed the gunman who shot Trump. Authorities have also not released a motive for that shooting, and details about the gunman’s identity remain scarce months later.
In his first fundraising email after the July assassination attempt, the former president also said he would “NEVER SURRENDER” and linked to a WinRed page.
Trump raised $137 million in July and the first assassination attempt may have contributed to that impressive total, the Associated Press reported.
When asked about the former president’s comments to Fox on Monday and details about the fundraiser, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung referred Business Insider to a report from Truth Social.
“Because of the communist left wing rhetoric, the bullets are flying,” Trump wrote in a lengthy paragraph, saying Harris was “an example” of the “rhetoric, lies” during their debate.
Trump also used his felony convictions to rake in money from donors.
After a Manhattan jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying corporate records, Trump sold merchandise, raising nearly $53 million within 24 hours of his conviction.
The question of who is to blame is also putting renewed scrutiny on the Secret Service, with some Trump allies calling for answers and more security for the former president.
On Sunday, an officer spotted the suspected shooter when Trump was 300 to 500 yards away, authorities and a criminal complaint said.
The officer opened fire on the suspect, who then fled the scene and was later arrested. The suspect was charged early Monday afternoon with two counts of firearm possession.
The GOP-led House is investigating the agency’s response to the first assassination attempt. After the first gunman wounded Trump’s ear in July, agency director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.
Read the original article on Business Insider
