Beckwith blames Democrats for Trump assassination attempts
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor on Monday said he blamed Democratic rhetoric about former President Donald Trump for the two attempts on Trump’s life.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after the attempt, Micah Beckwith wrote, “Hey, Democrats, how about you stop trying to have the (former president) taken out before you try and claim the moral high ground on civility.”
Beckwith told News 8 he said that because both men suspected of trying to assassinate Trump had donated to Democratic-aligned groups. He said he blamed Democratic rhetoric calling Trump a threat to democracy.
“The mainstream media has called Donald Trump the worst names in the book,” he said “When you look everything that’s going on, it’s very clear that it’s going from one side to the other, not both sides.”
Beckwith said if Republicans engaged in similar behavior, he would call it out just as quickly and forcefully.
Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in Sunday’s attempt, made social media posts in favor of Trump in 2020 but later turned against him. Records show he was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina and most recently voted in the state’s Democratic primary in March. He also had donated a total of $140 to the Democratic-aligned political action committee, ActBlue.
Democratic strategist Lara Beck said social media, particularly X, doesn’t leave a lot of room for context. She said Beckwith should instead have called for everyone, regardless of political affiliation, to tone down the rhetoric. Beck said people especially have an obligation to watch what they say on social media if they hold or are running for public office, as Beckwith is.
“I think this is just part of a tired, tired old trope that people like Micah Beckwith like to do to try to generate outrage, to try and make people angry and try to further divide us instead of using that platform to say hey, this is on all of us,” she said.