Trump to hold first campaign event since new assassination threat
Former President Trump will return to the campaign trail on Tuesday for the first time since the Secret Service engaged an alleged would-be-assassin along the perimeter of his Florida golf club over the weekend.
Trump is holding a town hall event in Flint, Mich., that will be moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), who previously served as Trump’s White House press secretary. The event was announced last Thursday.
The former president is expected to attack Vice President Harris on her economic policies, with a focus on the auto industry. The leadership of the United Auto Workers (UAW) has endorsed Harris.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two gun crimes after allegedly pushing the muzzle of a rifle through the fence along the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida while he was there, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire at him.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters Monday that Routh did not have a line of sight to the former president or fire any shots. He fled the scene and was apprehended a short time later.
The episode comes as the Secret Service is under intense scrutiny of its practices after the prior assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., and as various GOP voices called Monday for the agency to raise Trump’s level of security to that of President Biden.
Trump has praised the work of law enforcement and recounted being on the golf course when he heard shots. He has also blamed the rhetoric of his opponents for the violence against him.
Trump has multiple events scheduled on the campaign trail this week, including a Wednesday rally in Uniondale, N.Y., and a Saturday event in North Carolina.
Michigan is expected to be a closely contested battleground in November. Trump won the state in 2016, and President Biden won it in 2020. A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls shows Harris leading Trump by roughly 1 percentage point in Michigan.
“The only candidate in this race who understands working families is Vice President Harris, who has a plan to lower costs, bring good-paying manufacturing jobs back home, and ensure Michigan workers continue to lead the world in auto manufacturing,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said in a statement ahead of Trump’s visit.