'We're a little angry': Trump shifts tone after 2nd attempt on his life, but left blames him

Former President Donald Trump has taken a dramatically different tone in the wake of a second assassination attempt, largely eschewing the positive messaging and emphasis on unity that followed the first attempt and taking aim directly at his political opponents.

Though he did issue a statement on his campaign donations page, confirming that he was safe and stating “[t]hrough our UNITY we will Make America Great Again!” he has responded to the second attempt by blaming Democrats for allegedly inciting the assassination attempts.

“MAKE NO MISTAKE: The would-be assassin of President Trump was egged on by the incendiary rhetoric and lies that have flowed from Kamala Harris, Democrats, and their Fake News allies for years,” the campaign declared on Monday.

Some media figures, such as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, have interpreted the shift as Trump “seizing on this apparent assassination attempt as a way to rile up his base.” But the campaign offered a different explanation, retorting “[o]r, ya know, we're a little angry that people keep trying to MURDER President Trump.”

“We don’t need to rile up our base,” Trump-aligned pollster John McLaughlin told Just the News, contending that doing so wouldn’t affect the election much. “We need to keep the former president safe.”

The Sunday afternoon incident saw the Secret Service engage with an armed suspect after an agent saw the barrel of an AK-47 protruding from the bushes where he was lying in wait. The agent fired at the suspect, who promptly fled and left the rifle behind. He was later apprehended by the Martin County Sheriff’s Department and identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58. He faces gun charges for possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Routh's social media accounts were almost immediately deleted, according to PJ Media.  The FBI and Secret Service, as well as the tech giants refused to answer questions. As previously reported by Just the News, in recent years, his posts appear to have expressed support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Routh had previously been interviewed by The New York Times as a credible pro-Ukrainian activist. Democrats, while complaining about Trump's rhetoric have been calling him "Hitler" and an existential threat for years. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y, appearing on MSNBC with Jen Psaki, called for Trump to be "eliminated." 

Trump was not harmed during the Sunday afternoon attempt, unlike the July incident in Butler, Pa. In that attempt, Thomas Matthew Crooks discharged several rounds and managed to hit Trump before he himself was killed by Secret Service snipers. Trump was treated nearby and attended the Republican National Convention on schedule.

Ordinarily, a failed assassination attempt might be expected to generate sympathy for the intended target and translate to a bump in the polls. But though Trump did attract endorsements from public figures such as Elon Musk, he did not receive a material polling benefit from the first assassination attempt. 

On July 13, the day he was shot, he enjoyed a 2.9% lead over President Joe Biden in the RealClearPolitics polling average. By July 21, that lead had grown by a miniscule amount to 3.1%. That period notably included days of his wounded visage going viral on social media. After sustaining a gunshot wound to the ear, Trump remained on stage and pumped his fist in the air to signal to his supporters that he was alright. It also included the Republican National Convention, during which Trump displayed the firefighting gear of Corey Comperatore, the man killed during the first attempt.

Despite a series of iconic, viral moments, Trump didn’t secure the typical post-convention polling bounce, largely due to Biden dropping out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris emerging as the Democratic standard bearer. Harris surpassed Trump in the RCP average on Aug. 5.

McLaughlin explained that “[t]he country’s so polarized right now that you’re not seeing many changes. You’ve got two polarized camps that are set to vote for their candidates and there’s not much sway between one versus the other.”

He went on to assert that the shift in tone from the Trump campaign was not driven by politics and instead intended to emphasize the need to address security lapses.

“President Trump didn’t have enough security. They’ve repeatedly asked for more security,” he said. “After the first attempt on President Trump, there’s been a lot of revelations about gaps in security. And now, with the second attempt there seems to be more gaps. So, God bless the men and women in President Trump's detail that they’re keeping him, but there clearly needs to be far more presidential-level security.”

Whether due to a change in strategy or the desire to secure additional security, Trump and his campaign have opted for decidedly more combative rhetoric in the wake of the second attempt, after going for positive messaging the first time. His RNC speech saw him decline to even mention Biden by name and he repeatedly stressed calls for “unity” after the Butler incident.

“It is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he said the day after the near-fatal rally.

"The discord and division in our society must be healed. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny,” he said at the RNC. “We rise together. Or we fall apart. I am running to be president for ALL of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

Now, Trump has no qualms naming-and-shaming his opponents and has paired the myriad legal cases against him with the past incendiary rhetoric to flip the script on Democrats who claim he has incited hate with his own words.

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, told The New York Post, “It is no coincidence that Routh repeated Kamala’s and Joe’s extremist rhetoric against Trump. At this point it is inexcusable incitement.”

“The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust,” he posted on Truth Social on Monday. “Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!”