Two months after being shot in the ear by a gunman at a Republican rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump may have been the target of another assassination attempt while at his golf club in Florida.
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The former president is “safe and sound,” assured Steven Cheung, the communications director of his campaign team, while the FBI says it is investigating an “alleged attempted murder.”
A Secret Service agent reportedly saw the barrel of a gun sticking out from behind a fence bordering the Palm Beach golf course where the former president was playing his favorite sport and fired in that direction.
Photo AFP / GETTY IMAGES
According to a witness, a suspect immediately fled the scene in a “black Nissan car,” Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said at a news briefing.
Thanks to a photo of the car in question and its license plate, taken by the witness, the suspect was stopped and arrested by authorities on Interstate 95. He was not armed, authorities reported.
An AK-47-type weapon and a telescope were discovered in a bush near the golf club where the Republican candidate was staying, Palm Beach police confirmed at a press briefing early Sunday evening.
Screenshot courtesy of CNN
It is not yet clear whether the suspect fired in the direction of the Republican candidate or whether the shots were all fired by the Secret Service.
“There were shots fired near me, but before the rumors get out of hand, I wanted you to hear this first: I am safe and sound,” Trump said.
The White House responded quickly, with outgoing President Joe Biden and the Democratic presidential nominee saying they were “relieved” that Mr. Trump was not injured.
“Violence has no place in America,” M wroteme Harris.
A capital of sympathy
This alleged assassination attempt could “have a rallying effect” that Donald Trump’s team would use “to give itself some momentum for the final stretch of the campaign,” suggested Vincent Raynauld, professor of political communication at Emerson College in Boston, in an interview with LCN on Sunday.
“Supporters see that their candidate (…) is the target of people who want to take his life,” he explained. “Donald Trump (…) is going to try to use that to gain sympathy,” as he did during the last assassination attempt on him, on July 13.
Vincent Raynauld believes that Kamala Harris’ team will also have to “adjust.”
Photo AFP
