‘They made it difficult...,’ Trump blames Biden, Harris for July assassination attempt

Former United States PresidentDonald Trump on Tuesday (Aug 27) blamed Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for the 13 July assassination attempt. Trump said the duo made it difficult for the Secret Service to protect him. The Republican presidential candidatemade this claim on a television show, hosted by Phil McGraw. His remarks came after it was reported last week that several Secret Service agents were placed on administrative leave as an investigation continued.

“When this happened, people would ask, whose fault is it?” Trump told McGraw. “I think to a certain extent it’s Biden’s fault and Harris’s fault.

And I’m the opponent. They were weaponising government against me, they brought in the wholeDoJ (Department of Justice) to try and get me, they weren’t too interested in my health and safety,” he charged.

“They were making it very difficult to have proper staffing in terms of Secret Service,” the Republican presidential candidateadded.

Notably, following the shooting incident, the Secret Service admitted to having denied Trump’s security detail more security and personnel and acknowledged that his team had complained about it. The agency was forced to step up the former president’s security after the incident.

In his interview, Trump added that Biden’s and Harris’rhetorical attack on him may have inspired the assassination attempt.

“They’re saying I’m a threat to democracy,” he said. “They would say that, that was standard line, just keep saying it, and you know that can get assassins or potential assassins going. That’s a terrible thing … Maybe that bullet is because of their rhetoric.”

However, theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a reportlaterrevealed that the shooter, 20-year-oldThomas Matthew Crooks,acted alone andwasn't driven by ideological motives.

FBI officials said Wednesday the shooter madea "sustained, detailed effort" to finalise his target before settling with thePennsylvania rally of Donald Trump. The agency claimed that Crookssearched more than 60 times for information about the Republican presidential candidate and his then-rival, Democratic PresidentBiden.

(With inputs from agencies)