BREAKING—A day after the second attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life, this time at a Florida golf course, the Cincinnati Enquirer is blaming Trump’s assassination attempts on Trump himself.
The Enquirer ran a letter to the editor denigrating Trump supporters and blaming the former President for provoking the assassination attempts — are headlines such as the Enquirer’s a threat?
As the tragic return of political violence to U.S. elections has now eventuated in a second attempt on the former president’s life, threatening rhetoric for Trump to stand down from his campaign message shows what’s at stake in America in 2024. And, is the media, including the Enquirer, complicit in normalizing political violence?
The Story
The Enquirer piece, written by Felicia Duncan, a Democrat from Sharonville, smeared Trump supporters: “he brings crazies out, and one of those crazies tried to shoot him.”
There is no evidence the shooter, Ryan Routh, was a Trump supporter. Routh donated to democrats, and photos of his vehicle show a Biden-Harris bumper sticker.
The first assassination attempt on Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July revealed stunning failures on the part of the U.S. Secret Service, and damning whistleblower testimony pointed to the grave possibility of an inside job.
Details about Routh, who shot at Trump on a Florida golf course yesterday, are striking. Routh had known ties to Ukraine and was involved in recruiting mercenaries to fight, even appearing in a recruitment ad for Ukraine’s infamous Azov Battalion.
We know little so far, but w alleged Trump shooter's personal and public participation in military activity in Ukraine, it is hard to imagine this White House's agencies can claim zero contact—"clean hands." Something of an Oswald vibe, here. Congress should get answers. pic.twitter.com/lDD1TLsLVf
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 15, 2024
Ending the war in Ukraine has been a central tenet of Trump’s campaign.
Is the Media To Blame?
The assassination attempt also turned eyes on the media — and its years smearing a sitting president and presidential candidate as a threat to democracy. The Enquirer is only the latest major media outlet to blame Trump. Is the media itself to blame for provoking attempts on Trump’s life?
The Enquirer letter wrote that Trump wants to “‘round up’ and deport immigrants who are not white from this country.” The problem: Trump’s calls for deportations, which are popular across demographics and political affiliation, have never mentioned race.
Trump himself has never spoken of race in the subject of immigration. Strikingly, polls show strong majority support for mass deportations among Hispanic voters.
Have misrepresentation of Trump’s MAGA message, smearing of Republicans and MAGA-supporters, and calling the former president a threat to democracy, now by the Cincinnati Enquirer, increased the political temperature in Ohio?
The media has never held the Democrats responsible for inciting violence against Trump. Kamala wasn’t even asked about it in the “debate”. https://t.co/20Og5ZIzNI
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) September 15, 2024
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