Donald Trump's and fellow Republicans' claim that Democrats' rhetoric is to blame for the recent attempt on the former president's life doesn't pass muster with those following news in Springfield, Ohio.
A growing number of Trump critics are speaking out as Trump casts blame on Vice President Kamala Harris — even as bomb threats target the town where he falsely claimed Haitian immigrants are eating pet dogs.
"Two elementary schools in Springfield, Ohio, have been evacuated today due to threats," USA Today columnist Rex Huppke wrote on X. "So please spare me your concerns about rhetoric 'from the left.'"
Huppke is not alone in demanding to be spared finger-pointing at the Democratic Party commentary condemning Trump as a threat to American Democracy.
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Felicia Duncan, an Ohio resident from Sharonville, penned Monday a letter to the editor published by the Cincinnati Enquirer in which she argues Trump "brings a lot of this stuff on himself."
"When he continues to push lies about legal immigrants like the ones in Springfield, Ohio; when he continues to insist he was not the loser of the 2020 election; when he continues to spout how he wants to use our military to round up' and deport immigrants who are not white from this country, he brings the crazies out," Duncan wrote. "One of those crazies tries to shoot him."
No one has been convicted of the Sunday shooting at Trump International club in West Palm Beach, suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been charged with federal gun charges, court records show.
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The Independent notes it remains unclear whether Routh fired any shots.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican member of Congress, argued Trump — who recently called Democrats "leftist lunatics" and threatened to imprison election workers — routinely does not meet the rhetorical standards he set for his opponents.
"In blaming Democrats’ rhetoric for the assassination attempt, Trump accuses Democrats of 'wanting to destroy this country' and calls Democrats 'the enemy from within,'” Walsh wrote on X. "Dangerous rhetoric coming from Democrats, huh?"
Another former House Republican, Adam Kinzinger, agreed.
"Violent rhetoric is wrong, and has no place," Kinzinger wrote. "But MAGA pretending they didn’t light this fire is gaslighting to the 100th power. Since Trump showed up our politics has gone to crap. Literally just accused a group of people of eating our pets. So stop."
