Reacting to the alleged assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, tech billionaire Elon Musk made a controversial statement questioning why "no assassination attempts were being made on US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris." On Sunday, Trump faced his second assassination attempt when gunshots were fired outside a golf course in Florida where he was playing. The FBI confirmed it was an attempted assassination, but both Trump’s campaign and law enforcement reported that he was safe and unharmed.
In response to an X user’s question about why people might want to kill Trump, Musk tweeted: "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala." As a Trump supporter, Musk often posts in his favor. The Secret Service confirmed that its agents "opened fire on a gunman" near the golf course and recovered an "AK-47 style rifle" along with a video camera.
Authorities still haven’t confirmed whether the gunman, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, fired at Trump, but Secret Service agents did shoot at Routh, who was hiding in the bushes at the golf course. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., mentioned that authorities also found an AK-47 rifle in the bushes, extremely close to where Trump was leaving.
"Again folks! SHOTS FIRED at Trump Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida. An AK-47 was discovered in the bushes, per local law enforcement," Trump Jr. posted on X. This assassination attempt comes just two months after Trump was shot at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where he sustained a minor injury to his right ear. The attacker was immediately shot dead by security personnel.
The White House issued a statement saying both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident. "There is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
