Former President Trump, seen with blood on his face, is rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
The incident marks the second attempt on Trump’s life in just a few months. Trump was shot in the ear in July while holding a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooting, which was carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, left two rally attendees injured, and Comperatore was fatally shot while protecting his family.
Petrino said he has not heard of any plots against the other former living presidents, but that the Secret Service should take the second plot against Trump into consideration as they protect the other presidents.
"Right now, they have had two [attempts] within a couple of months of each other. There's something going on, and we better really start tightening up what we're doing across the board. Not just for Trump, but really for everybody," he said, arguing Harris and Biden are also targets, but that Trump has a "higher footprint" as a target among former presidents, specifically.
"You have these keyboard warriors. It's like a drug. They go out, and they spew all their hate and venom online. [The internet] has allowed these people, for them to stew in their own psychosis."
HOUSE DEM LEADER RAILS 'WE MUST STOP' MAGA AMID NEWS OF 2ND TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Clinton, Obama and Bush inquiring if there is any heightened concern following the second attempt on Trump and if their security has increased, but did not receive replies.
Ryan W. Routh, suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Trump, stands handcuffed after his arrest near Palm City, Florida, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters)
Fox News Digital pored through Routh’s social media on Sunday evening, before his accounts were suspended, and found that he did parrot some political talking points from Democrats, including declaring: "DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose."
"Your campaign should be called something like KADAF. Keep America democratic and free. Trumps should be MASA... make Americans slaves again master. DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way," an X message posted in April – before Biden dropped out of the race in July and Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket.
Harris and Biden have both repeatedly claimed that "Democracy is on the ballot" this year. The White House, Biden and Harris have additionally described Trump as a "threat" to democracy.
During the White House press briefing on Tuesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if the administration planned to drop using the word "threat" to describe Trump considering the second assassination attempt. Doocy noted in his question that Trump has lobbed similar attacks against Biden and Harris.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on stage at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
"How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump, other than ‘threat?’" Doocy asked.
Jean-Pierre told Doocy she completely disagreed with the premise of his question, calling the way he asked it "incredibly dangerous" because Americans are watching.
"What I have said about the president, the former president, about Jan. 6 is [a] fact that you all have reported. It is [a] fact. When you have a former president who basically says that the election wasn’t the results of the election… when dozens, dozens of more than 60 Republican judges said that it was a free and fair election," Jean-Pierre said. "You had more than 2,000 people who were told to go to the Capitol. It was one of the darkest days of our democracy, one of the darkest days."
"To your point," Doocy added. "There are people watching at home who might miss the part where you say, ‘Let’s lower the temperature,’ and… there are mentally unstable people who are attempting to kill political candidates… attempting to kill Donald Trump. And they are still hearing this White House refer to him as a threat. Is there no concern that people are taking that literally?"
Jean-Pierre pointed to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters breached the Capitol, as an example as to why the administration described Trump as a "threat."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Wednesday for any additional comment on claims heightened political rhetoric caused the second apparent attempt against Trump, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Harris and Biden both condemned the attempt on Trump on Sunday, and called him following the incident, and additionally condemned the attempt in Pennsylvania in July.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-higher-risk-assassination-than-other-former-presidents-thanks-public-enemy-rhetoric-expert