President Donald Trump is ruminating over the 2024 assassination attempt on his life and lashing out at his political opponents.
Trump suggested that the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, by a lone gunman was really a “Democrat Plot.” He also suggested the FBI director he appointed during his first term, Christopher Wray, “should pay a price.”
Trump claimed “new info” on the incident was just found. But later, during a press briefing Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked about it. He fumbled around trying to explain what Trump meant.
Trump started it all with a post on his Truth Social platform at 11:28 a.m Tuesday.
“Everybody knows the Crooked Joe Biden FBI didn’t do what they should have with respect to the Lunatic who shot me in Butler, PA,” Trump wrote.
“By the time I got into Office, on January 20th, most of the information was missing, altered, corrupted, or gone,” he claimed in what critics call a bald-faced lie.
Then the president made a shocking claim.
“New info was just found! Why wasn’t it seen long ago? This was all a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election, that failed,” he contended without offering any proof.
He added, “Dirty Cop Christopher Wray should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt, and certainly for the things he said.”
The investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump revealed that a lone 20-year-old gunman carried out the shooting. He hit Trump in the ear, missing his head by a hair, and killed a man in the crowd. Several others were injured.
After Trump’s post, FBI Director Kash Patel testified during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. He directly contradicted Trump. Patel told the panel that investigators found “no evidence” the gunman, Thomas Crooks, spoke to or communicated with anyone other than his parents.
That ruled out a “Democrat Plot” by Trump’s own FBI director.
Later in the day, Blanche tried to make sense of what Trump posted after a reporter asked him about it. The reporter wanted him to explain how the shooting was a “Democrat Plot” and what new evidence Trump was referring to.
The reporter also asked Blanche if the Justice Department was considering bringing charges against Wray.
Blanche first rebuked the reporter. “The Department of Justice doesn’t punish, by the way.”
But critics have been contending that Trump has effectively weaponized the DOJ against his political opponents. He’s ordered the agency to file charges against several people, including his former FBI director James Comey.
And he suggested last year that the government should investigate Wray. A right-wing media outlet falsely reported that FBI agents were involved in Trump’s January 6th riot on the Capitol in 2021.
“What President Trump said today about the new information, and this new information is information that we found, that the FBI found that produced to the Senate in response to inquiries that they had,” Blanche sputtered.
Then he insisted, “It is new information about the shooter and about his background, about his history, and that’s stuff we didn’t know before.”
Blanche appearing to reference newly released FBI documents on Crooks and interviews with his father Matthew Crooks after the assassination attempt on July 13, 2024.
The documents were released to Senate Judiciary chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley as part of his ongoing investigation into the incident, according to the New York Post.
Crooks’ father claimed in the files that Crooks was an emotionless child and didn’t even cry when he was born. The elder Crooks told investigators his son had a troubled childhood and didn’t have many friends.
He also said he developed a penchant for guns and that he didn’t really have a goal in life.
Social media immediately attacked Trump, accusing him of trying to distract Americans from the upcoming November election.
“They don’t have any new info about a plot. They are just desperate with midterms coming up and are pulling out their base’s favorite conspiracies,” an X user commented.
This poster suggested what Blanche really wanted to say. “In other words Trump was lying but I can’t say that.”
Another agreed, “His no answer should tell us everything.”
A Threads offered up a blunt assessment, “He’s insane.”
