In West Michigan, Vance blames Democrats for attempts on Trump’s life

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in a stop in Erie, Pa. | Peter Hall/States Newsroom

Republican vice presidential candidate Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D Vance used much of his time at a West Michigan rally on Tuesday talking about the most recent reported attempt on the life of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Speaking to supporters in Sparta, a small village just north of Grand Rapids, Vance angrily blamed Democrats for both the deadly shooting incident in Pennsylvania in July, as well as Sunday’s incident in Florida.

“They want to do everything that they can to silence Donald Trump, and they send that signal with every action that they take,” he said. “Well, if you’re trying to silence Donald Trump and you’re sending the message we have to do everything that we can to silence Donald Trump, a crazy person is eventually going to take that message to heart. Thank God nothing truly tragic has happened to Donald. Democrats have gotta cut this crap out.”

Both President Biden and Trump’s opponent this November, Vice President Kamala Harris, quickly condemned Sunday’s incident specifically, and political violence generally. 

Man arrested after poking rifle onto Trump golf course charged with federal gun crimes

Vance also said more had to be done to keep Trump safe, saying he was no ordinary ex-president.

“Donald Trump ought to have the same detail as Joe Biden,” he said. “Our federal government has decided that Donald Trump deserves a lesser level of protection. Maybe with any normal former president that makes sense. It clearly doesn’t meet the challenge of what Donald J. Trump is dealing with. So we ought to bump up his security.”

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said senators were open to providing more funding for the Secret Service in legislation needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30.

“If the Secret Service is in need of more resources, we are prepared to provide it for them,” he said. “Possibly in the upcoming funding agreement.”

Vance also noted the recent support of former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father was assassinated in 1968.

“I’ve gotten to know him very well over the last few weeks, but I think in many ways this country never healed from the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy,” said Vance. “But whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, if an assassin takes out a presidential candidate in the midst of this election, it is going to cause a rift and a wound in this country that will be so deep it will never heal. So we cannot let this happen.”

The most recent incident involving a threat on Trump occurred Sunday when a Secret Service agent spotted someone holding a rifle near the treeline of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. 

The suspect, later identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, fled after being fired at by the agent and was later apprehended without incident. The Secret Service said Routh never fired his gun nor did he have Trump in his “line of sight.”

Trump also sustained a wound to his ear during a July 13 assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., in which one rallygoer was killed, and two others were injured. The suspected gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper. 

Both incidents remain under investigation.

Vance has been criticized for his political rhetoric, most recently involving the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, where his pushing of a discredited rumor about migrants eating pets was repeated a day later by Trump during his debate with Harris. 

Since then, bomb threats have rocked the city, forcing various closures including schools and municipal buildings. Vance referred to the threats as “hoaxes” that came from foreign countries, insisting that meant he and Trump bore no responsibility.

“So the American media, for three days, has been lying and saying that Donald Trump and I are inciting bomb threats when in reality, the American media has been laundering foreign disinformation. It is disgusting, and every single one of those the residents of Springfield an apology,” he said.

Vance was asked about both his and the GOP’s culpability in amplifying rhetoric in which he seemed to at first acknowledge but then turned it back into an attack line.

“I’m running for vice president. Sure, I can sometimes do better, but we have to remember, Donald Trump is getting shot at,” said Vance. “Two people have now tried to assassinate Donald Trump, and all the media can talk about is we need more censorship. And they’re still talking about Donald Trump as if he’s a threat that needs to be eliminated. They haven’t learned a damn thing and they’re going to get somebody killed. They’ve got to stop this.”

Vance then ended his appearance by doubling down on the rhetoric unleashed against the Haitian community in Springfield.

“What happened in Springfield, I think, is an example of what Kamala Harris’ open border, what she wants to do to every small town and big city in this country, which is over the last few years, 20,000 migrants, primarily from Asia, have been dropped into Springfield, Ohio and it’s caused an incredible stress on nearly every local service,” said Vance. 

Springfield officials have told a different story, in which the Haitian immigrants have instead helped to revive the struggling Ohio town and have assured residents that the immigrants are there legally, are more likely to be the victims of crime than perpetrators, and that they are working.

There are an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians in the city, ABC News reports, and most are legally authorized to live and work in the U.S.

“Springfield is also now home to ten newer businesses, opened by Haitian immigrants, including, 2 Haitian restaurants, 7 Haitian grocery stores and 1 Haitian food truck,” stated a FAQ page on the city’s website.

Meanwhile, Harris, while speaking at a discussion with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), said Trump and Vance’s  “divisive, hateful lies” were putting Springfield residents in danger. 

“The American people deserve – and I do believe, want – better than this,” she said. “I know the vast majority of us know we have so much more in common than what separates us. I know that regardless of someone’s background, their race, their gender, their geographic location, I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and it’s gotta stop.”

Vance’s visit to Sparta was just hours ahead of a town hall event featuring Trump being held at the Dort Financial Center in Flint Tuesday night, which is the former president’s ninth campaign visit to Michigan since announcing his candidacy.

Harris, meanwhile, will join with TV personality and producer Oprah Winfrey for a live-streamed visit from Michigan Thursday night.