Ryan Wesley Routh, the second suspect to attempt to assassinate then-candidate Donald Trump, sent Politico a letter parroting mainstream media talking points that vilify Trump. At one point in the four-page letter, penned from behind bars, the alleged would-be Trump assassin calls Trump a "dictator."
Ryan Routh — the second would-be Trump assassin — sent letters to Palm Beach Post & Politico from jail after his arrrest, and it appears from his writing he may have been motivated by all of the “dictator” rhetoric pushed by Dems.https://t.co/gTCthBNdF6https://t.co/4Nfm3Ck43q pic.twitter.com/cuKGzdxMJ9
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) November 26, 2024
According to the anti-Trump screed — written prior to the 2024 presidential election — Routh warned that if Trump were to win, the country would need to strip the president's commander-in-chief status ahead of Inauguration Day.
"We must limit all Presidential power before Trump seizes our country," Routh wrote. This includes finding a way to "remove the power of our military by the President and place it with Congress before January," he urged in the event of a Trump victory.
In the wake of the two assassination attempts, Trump said the suspected gunman, referring to Routh, truly believed the "highly inflammatory language" of his political opponents and "acted" on it accordingly.
On the campaign trail, days before dropping out of the race and in the aftermath of the first failed attempt on Trump's life, President Joe Biden doubled down on asserting that Trump is a "threat to democracy" during an NBC News interview.
"How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?" Biden said. "Do you just not say anything because it might incite somebody?"
His running mate and eventual replacement on the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris, has said, "Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms," and regularly railed about "the threat he poses."
Routh's jailhouse letter was reportedly riddled with such Democratic rhetoric invoking "freedom" and "democracy."
Per Politico, Routh praised himself and Thomas Matthew Crooks, the first failed Trump shooter, as "ready to die for freedom and democracy."
Routh, who is awaiting trial, signed the letter: "Trump Alleged Shooter." Below the moniker were Routh's inmate number and an address for the federal detention center in Miami, where he's been held since he allegedly tried to kill Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course.
Routh sent a similar pre-election letter to The Palm Beach Post, in which he also referred to Trump as a "dictator."
"Palm Beach should be leading the way and guiding our country hopefully to choose democracy over a dictator," Routh wrote.
As for the Politico article, its subheading densely asks, "Ryan Routh allegedly tried to shoot Donald Trump. What does he believe?" It's a no-brainer the guy who (allegedly) tried to take out Trump is an anti-Trumper. Moreover, he has a Biden-Harris bumper sticker slapped on his truck.
The author of the article, Politico's senior writer Ankush Khardori, a former federal prosecutor at the U.S. Justice Department, seems to take Routh's words at face value — or at least puts more stock in the ramblings of a wackjob accused of attempted murder than what it's worth. Routh, based on what he wrote, has "no particular affinity for the Democratic Party," reads the Politico piece, which mentions that Routh "explicitly disclaimed any affiliation with the Democratic Party."
According to Khardori's assessment, we can't possibly know what motivated Routh:
But are Biden and Harris to blame for Routh's plot? Routh clearly views Trump as a threat to democracy, echoing a major piece of Democrats' case against Trump during this election cycle, as well as that of anti-Trump Republicans. That said, the only reference to Biden is made amid the discussion of the Middle East, as described above. The letter didn't mention Harris at all.
In the end, we can't know what may have driven an agitated mind to attempt a heinous act. You don't have to believe Routh based on what he put in his letter. He’s not exactly a reliable narrator. But you also don't have to take the word of partisan politicians. The only thing for certain in this polarized climate is that the debate isn't going away.