Rep. Miki Sherrill (D-Jersey) said Monday that the second assassination attempt on former President Trump was a “confluence” of Republican “misinformation,” “fear-mongering” and the “total availability of assault rifles.”
Sherrill spoke to CNN's Jim Acosta the day after Secret Service agents thwarted an assassination attempt at Trump International Golf Club, firing at the suspect who was later taken into custody.
While Sherrill acknowledged that the Secret Service needs to do more to protect Trump, she linked the assassination attempt to the Republican Party.
“I think we also need to address some of the underlying issues that are going on here. This really seems to be a confluence of two really bad things going on within the Republican Party,” Sherrill said.
Former President Trump faced a second assassination attempt at his golf club on Sunday. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
MSNBC host asks if Trump campaign asks to 'hold back on comments' following shooting outside golf club
She added, “On the one hand, there are attempts to divide, to infuriate residents, to spread false rumors and misinformation. We know the mayor of Springfield is begging Republicans to stop spreading disinformation about immigrants. They have parts of town locked down at this point, and we're seeing more partisanship and fear-mongering.”
“And on the other hand, assault rifles are totally available, it seems, to anyone who wants them. So how does this man who's already been convicted of armed hostage-raiding get access to weapons of war that I was trained on when I was in the military?” Merrill asked.
Acosta then referred to a since-deleted post in which X CEO Elon Musk asked “Why would they want to kill Donald Trump?” and commented, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” He asked Sherrill if Musk could be in “legal jeopardy” for his post.
Rep. Miki Sherrill (R-New Jersey) spoke with CNN's Jim Acosta about the second assassination attempt on President Trump. (CNN screenshot)
“Certainly, I think it puts him at moral risk. Why is he asking that question? Is it saying that the public should be aware of that and take action? I mean, right now, when we see continued attempts to divide people, to divide the American people, to sow confusion and to sow discord, this is a very dangerous time and we need leaders who will bring people together and unify,” Sherrill said. “And now, as we face this dangerous time, Donald Trump, the Republican Party, Project 2025, J.D. Vance, and now Elon Musk, continue to try to sow division and rift and hatred in our nation, and I think that's very dangerous.”
“As we get closer to the election, it seems like the rhetoric is escalating to a fairly volatile level,” Acosta said later in the program.
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Other media outlets have suggested that Trump's comments may have contributed to the assassination attempt. (AP/Jay C. Hong)
“On one side of Congress, the rhetoric has risen to a very volatile level, and it's been raised by Republicans, by MAGA Republicans, by Donald Trump,” Sherrill argued.
NBC host Lester Holt also commented on Monday that the assassination attempt “comes at a time of increasing rhetoric from Trump on the campaign trail.”
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