The latest would-be Trump assassin answered the leftist call to violence

This isn’t the first time someone tried to assassinate President Trump. In the seven months since Charlie Kirk was gunned down, the violent rhetoric from the left has only gotten worse.

I resigned from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office after Kirk’s murder in order to warn the public about the violent consequences of the inflammatory rhetoric promoted by Democrats and amplified by the media.

Before almost every prior assassination attempt, that same toxic rhetoric was deployed. After almost every attempt, Democrat leaders and media figures issued predictable calls for calm and unity. Yet shortly thereafter, the rhetoric resumed, and another attempt followed. One of them succeeded.

The pattern has become so predictable that wild conspiracy theories about 'false flag' operations are now proliferating.

The public has largely forgotten the earliest attempts on Trump’s life. On June 18, 2016, Michael Steven Sandford tried to grab a police officer’s pistol during a Trump speech at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in order to shoot him. On September 6, 2017, Gregory Lee Leingang stole a forklift from an oil refinery and tried to ram Trump’s motorcade.

In both cases, the attempts were preceded by heated rhetoric. Former Democrat presidential candidate and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley labeled Trump a "fascist demagogue." After the Charlottesville incident, allegedly partially funded by the SPLC, MSNBC commentator Nicolle Wallace stated that Trump was giving "safe harbor to Nazis" and "white supremacists."

These early failures did not deter the pattern. The rhetoric continued, and more attempts followed.

In July 2019, New Jersey Democrat Senator Cory Booker stated that Trump was "worse than a racist" and compared Trump to noted segregationist Democrat George Wallace.

On September 1, 2022, in his Philadelphia “Soul of the Nation” speech, Joe Biden declared that "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic." Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa stated that Trump “channeled his role models as he parroted Adolf Hitler.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) consistently paints Trump as a fascist and a threat to democracy. In November 2023, Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan wrote that “a Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable.” “With each passing day, it will become harder and more dangerous to stop it by any means, legal or illegal.”

After this unrelenting barrage, with Trump and conservatives being branded as racists, fascists, and existential threats to democracy, Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. The shooting grazed Trump’s ear and killed firefighter Corey Comperatore.

Democrats responded with familiar calls to lower the temperature and some easy condemnations of political violence, but actions speak louder than words.

A New Jersey columnist continued to label Trump a “fascist threat to democracy” only eight days after the assassination attempt.

On September 15, 2024, Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested while hiding in the bushes with a rifle near the course where Trump was golfing.

The rhetoric only intensified.

On October 23, 2024, Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris agreed that Trump is a fascist, and she repeated the widely discredited statements of John Kelly that Trump praised Hitler. Media outlets continued to praise and encourage the dangerous and biased labels.

The labeling of Trump and conservatives as Hitler and Nazis and the comparison of ICE to the Gestapo are numerous and easy to find.

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Blaze Media Illustration

On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. Once again came the public statements condemning political violence and calling for unity. But the rhetoric did not subside.

Within two weeks of his death, columnists repeated the lie that Kirk was a white supremacist promoting racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic violence and criticized anyone for mourning or honoring him.

Within a month of his death, Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) called Kirk’s views "vile."

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) called Trump a “wannabe Hitler.” Kamala Harris called Trump a "tyrant" and compared him to a "communist dictator." Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) claimed Trump was an existential threat requiring vigilance against "totalitarian" moves.

Less than 10 days ago, that dangerous rhetoric was repeated by Camden County Commissioner Louis Cappelli Jr., who publicly labeled Trump a "cult leader and traitor."

Saturday, another individual attempted to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The pattern has become so predictable that wild conspiracy theories about “false flag” operations are now proliferating. This confusion makes confronting the real problem harder.

The cycle will not stop until more Americans — regardless of party — call out the poisonous rhetoric and insist on debating ideas, not demonizing opponents as enemies who must be stopped by any means.

Political violence has no place in America. Words have consequences. It’s time to choose debate over demonization before more innocent lives are lost.