Former President Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance was called out for blatant hypocrisy after he attempted to shame Democrats for the second alleged assassination attempt on Trump, all the while ignoring his and Trump's own dangerous rhetoric.
Trump was the target of what the FBI described as "an apparent assassination attempt" at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after surviving a previous attempt on his life. The FBI has taken a suspect into custody.
Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, were briefed on the situation and issued statements condemning political violence. Harris expressed that she was "deeply disturbed" by the day's events and emphasized the need for everyone to play a role in preventing further violence.
Biden stated that he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service "has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”
But Vance attacked them and Democrats anyway, beginning his diatribe by outlining the circumstances behind the assassination attempt, describing Trump as "my running mate, and my friend" and "more importantly a father and grandfather to people who love him very much."
He oddly praised Trump, who has spent the last week sharing more conspiracies and antagonizing Democrats on Truth Social, "for calling for peace and calm." He said "the rhetoric is out of control," citing attempts on the lives of Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise and other Republicans who were targeted in a shooting during a congressional baseball game several years ago.
He continued by making light of what Democrats and even prominent Republicans have described as the "clear and present danger" facing the nation's democratic institutions in the event Trump wins November's election:
"Here is what we know so far: Kamala Harris has said that 'Democracy is on the line' in her race against President Trump. The gunman agreed, and used the exact same phrase. He had a Kamala Harris bumper sticker on his truck."
"He was obsessed with Ukraine's 'fight for Democracy' and absorbed many unhinged views about the Russia-Ukraine war. HIs name is [redacted], and he donated 19 times to Democrat causes and zero to Republican ones."
"How do you think the Democrats and their media allies would respond if a 19-time Republican donor tried to kill a Democratic official? It's a question that answers itself."
"For years, Kamala Harris's campaign surrogates have said things like 'Trump has to be eliminated.' And how have their media allies responded to the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump in as many months?"
"NBC News called the attempted assassination a 'golf club incident.' The LA Times told us 'Trump Targeted at Golf Club.' The USA Today's top of the fold headline is 'Hope in America,' and they published a preposterous letter to the editor arguing that Trump 'brings these assassination attempts on himself.'"
"CNN's Dana Bash--who just yesterday bizarrely accused me of inciting a bomb threat--said today that Harris campaign rhetoric didn't motivate Routh even though he echoed their rhetoric explicitly."
After attacking PBS for its reporting on Vance's own rhetoric surrounding recent bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio, he complained about what he described as a "double standard" in media coverage:
"The double standard is breathtaking. Donald Trump and I are, by their account, directly responsible for bomb threats from foreign countries. Why? Because we had the audacity to repeat what residents told us about the problems in their town. Meanwhile, Harris allies call for Trump to be eliminated as the media publishes arguments that he deserved to be shot."
He claimed Springfield citizens have described "the undeniable truths of higher car accidents, unaffordable housing, evictions of residents, overcrowded hospitals, overstressed schools, and rising rates of disease."
He also suggested "Harris's first strategy was to ignore these people and their concerns by protecting "illegal aliens" from being deported, even though the Biden administration has explicitly said that Biden tasked her with addressing the underlying causes of migration early in his term, and she was never responsible for managing the border itself.
He then alleged the media is engaging in "censorship" and said "the threat of violence is disgraceful of course, yet the media seems to relish it."
He added:
"They cover a bomb threat, but not the rise in murders. They cover the threat, but not the HIV uptick. They cover the threat, not the schools overwhelmed with new kids who don't speak English. They cover the threat, not rising insurance rates or the car accidents that caused them. They cover the threat, not the failures of Kamala Harris's leadership."
"The purpose is not to turn down the rhetoric. If anything, covering the bomb threats gives whoever makes them exactly what he wants: attention. The purpose is distraction and shame. How dare you talk about the problems of Haitian migration in Springfield? You're endangering people, simply by discussing the problems of Kamala Harris's policies."
"It's a form of moral blackmail, designed not to make anyone safe but to shut everyone up. Springfield is the most recent, but hardly the most egregious example. There was the Hunter Biden laptop story, censored by BigTech. And who can forget that anyone who didn't support Kamala Harris's Ukraine policy was drenched in the blood of Ukrainian children."
"That last one appears to have had some effect on Routh--the most recent would-be assassin. The message is always the same: don't you dare express an opinion on the public affairs of your nation. The message is: shut up."
He also defended Trump's lies that the 2020 election was stolen, suggesting these claims pale in comparison to the perceived censorship from Democrats:
"This is the difference between debate--even aggressive debate--and censorship. It is one thing to attack Kamala Harris for "destroying the country" and quite another to say that President Trump should be 'eliminated.' It is one thing to criticize overheated rhetoric, and another to say that a former president has invited an assassination on himself."
"It is one thing to say that Donald J. Trump's arguments about the election of 2020 are wrong; it is another thing to attempt to remove him from the ballot over it."
"It is one thing to say that pets are not, in fact being eaten, and another thing to say that anyone who disagrees is trying to murder people. Dissent, even vigorous dissent, is a great tradition of the United States. Censorship is not."
He concluded with a final appeal to Democrats and the following hollow promise to his constituents:
"For the next 7 weeks of this campaign, I will vigorously defend your right to speak your mind. I believe you have every right to criticize me and Donald J. Trump, even if you say terrible or untrue things about us. But when I ask you to 'tone down the rhetoric' it's not about being nice--our citizens have every right to be mean, even if I don't like it--or empty platitudes."
"Instead, I'm asking all of us to reject censorship. Reject the idea that you can control what other people think and say. Embrace persuasion of your fellow citizens over silencing them--either through the powers of Big Tech or through moral blackmail."
"I think this will make our public debate much better. But there's something else. Reject censorship and you reject political violence. Embrace censorship, and you will inevitably embrace violence on its behalf."
"The reason is simple. The logic of censorship leads directly to one place, for there is only one way to permanently silence a human being: put a bullet in his brain."
You can see his post below.
Vance's remarks are the height of hypocrisy given how he's most recently used a conspiracy theory Trump spread during last week's presidential debate for political capital.
Republicans have spread hateful rumors about Haitian immigrants "eating cats" after Trump promoted the unfounded allegation that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were consuming household pets in response to a question about immigration:
They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame."
Moderator David Muir swiftly corrected Trump when he repeated the debunked claim that gained traction online after right-wing social media accounts spread the unfounded story, despite no actual evidence supporting it. Muir pointed out that officials in Springfield, Ohio, including the city manager, confirmed no such incidents of cat-eating had occurred.
Springfield police said that they had received no reports of pets being stolen and eaten, following
a viral social media post originally from a Springfield Facebook group, according to the Springfield News-Sun. The post claimed that a neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat, only to find it hanging at a Haitian neighbor’s home, allegedly being prepared for a meal. Immigrants were also falsely accused of eating ducks and geese at local parks.
And Vance used the moment to spread the false story across social media, just after the Trump campaign released a statement titled “Kamala Migrants Ravage Ohio City — And It’s Coming to Your City Next,” which falsely claimed that “20,000 Haitian migrants were dumped in the city.”
Vance later conceded the possibility “all of these rumors will turn out to be false" but nonetheless urged "fellow patriots" not to let "the crybabies in the media dissuade you."
Vance went a step further, justifying the use of fabricated facts to fit his narrative, telling CNN’s Dana Bash, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m gonna do,” accusing the media of allowing Harris to "coast" through the election without scrutiny.
He then attempted to gaslight both Bash and CNN’s audience, claiming:
“We are creating — Dana, it comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents. I say that we’re ‘creating a story’ meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it. I didn’t create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield, thanks to Kamala Harris’ policies. Her policies did that but, yes, we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about the story.”
Vance's insistence on manufacturing left-wing extremist narratives has had dire effects on the Haitian community in Springfield.
Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine announced at a Monday news conference that the Ohio State Highway Patrol would be deployed to monitor schools in Springfield following 33 bomb threats made since late last week.
On Monday, two colleges switched to virtual learning, and two elementary schools were evacuated due to separate threats. So far, none of the threats has been found to be credible, DeWine said.
Beginning yesterday, 36 state troopers from the mobile field force are stationed at all 17 school buildings in the Springfield City School District. The troopers will sweep the buildings before classes begin and stay on campus to ensure security throughout the school day and after dismissal.
Many moved to condemn Vance's actions.
Despite Vance's rhetoric and the GOP's collective accusations that the Biden administration is biased against Trump, the administration, via FBI Director Christopher Wray,
announced he has deployed the "full force" of his department to investigate the foiled attempt as well as a similar one that nearly cost Trump his life in July.
Wray said that "for the second time in just over two months, we’ve witnessed what appears to be an attempt to attack our democracy and our democratic process." He assured Americans that "the men and women of the FBI are working tirelessly to get to the bottom of what happened" and that this "work is very much ongoing, and we’re just a few days into the investigation, so we’re limited in what we can say at this point."
The suspect is accused of trying to assassinate Trump, waiting on a golf course for nearly 12 hours before being spotted by the Secret Service. He now faces federal gun charges.
Meanwhile, Harris
denounced the “hateful” rhetoric around Springfield and called it “a crying shame” that innocent people, members of the Haitian community and other citizens alike, have been impacted by the bomb threats.
Speaking at a National Association of Black Journalists panel in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Harris expressed sympathy for the community "put in fear" by false claims spread by Trump and Vance, saying her “heart breaks for the community.”
Harris emphasized that "you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America, engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country."
