Former Attorney General William Barr told Fox News that “the Democrats have to stop their grossly irresponsible talk about Trump being an existential threat to democracy. He is not.”
The statement came just hours after a would-be assassin shot at former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Republicans lost no time tying the attack to rhetoric from Democrats accusing Trump of being authoritarian, a dictator or anti-democracy.
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Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr has called on Democrats to end their rhetoric about Trump as an “existential threat to democracy.” (Fox News/Getty Images)
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, a contender for Trump’s vice president position, after the attack posted on X, “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Trump arrives to speak during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 9, 2024. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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President Biden came under scrutiny after the shooting for remarks he made to donors on July 8, in which he said “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye,” Politico reported.