(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre endorsed labeling Donald Trump as a “threat,” despite mounting concerns that such rhetoric is inciting deadly violence against the former president.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre defended the label, citing Jan. 6. She even became visibly upset when Fox News’s Peter Doocy questioned her remarks just days after Trump survived his second assassination attempt in under two months.
“[Jan. 6] was one of the darkest days of our democracy, and there were law enforcement officers who died because the former president told people to go there,” Jean-Pierre said. “I mean, I don’t know if that’s not a threat to our democracy when it was one of the darkest days of our democracy — January 6, one of the darkest days.”
Jean-Pierre’s remarks followed Doocy’s question about whether the recent assassination attempt on Trump would lead the Biden-Harris administration to soften its rhetoric.
“It’s been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again, and you’re here at the podium in the White House briefing room calling him a threat,” Doocy asked. “How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president, and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than threatening?”
Jean-Pierre labeled the question “incredibly dangerous,” dismissing its premise. In a rambling response, she cited the administration’s past condemnation of violence as proof they opposed attacks on Trump.
Her claims ignored the fact that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly called Trump an imminent danger to “democracy,” with some lawmakers suggesting that the former president must be “terminated.”
Critics argue that such claims, rooted in leftist talking points, have contributed to the two assassination attempts on Trump, who is seeking to reclaim the White House in the upcoming November election.
On July 13, Trump was nearly assassinated by Thomas Matthew Crooks during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. While Trump survived, beloved firefighter Chief Corey Comperatore was struck in the head by a bullet while protecting his two daughters and wife.
On Sunday, Trump was again targeted in what the FBI described as an “apparent assassination attempt.” The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, is in custody and faces two federal charges for illegal possession of a firearm. More charges are expected.
