Eric Trump told Newsmax that the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder and CEO Charlie Kirk in Utah on Wednesday was strikingly similar to last year’s attempt against his father, President Donald Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Although Kirk’s assassination was not shown live on TV, as was the attempt on the president’s life during a campaign rally, Eric Trump told “Finnerty” on Thursday it reminded him of that July 2024 day in Butler. That was when a bullet fired from Thomas Matthew Crooks nearly killed his father.
“To say déjà vu would be an understatement,” Eric Trump said. “I had my kids on my lap when I was watching Butler when I saw 15 [Secret Service] agents hop on my father, and he goes down, right. … We had no idea what happened to him. My heart was on the floor. My kids watched it live on TV. They were 4 and 6 at the time.
“There’s no question. It was absolutely a flashback. It was a flashback for [wife] Laura. Laura took it pretty hard yesterday. Everybody took it hard yesterday. The whole country took it hard yesterday. But there’s no question that was absolutely a flashback to that moment.”
Trump, whose book “Under Siege: My Family’s Fight to Save Our Nation” is set for release Oct. 14, blamed hostile rhetoric from the left for stoking such violence against Republicans and conservatives, recalling the second assassination attempt against his father last year at a golf course in Florida.
“This isn’t a unique scenario anymore. They tried this at a golf course. The guy is on trial in Florida right now,” Trump said, referring to Ryan Wesley Routh, who was spotted hiding in nearby shrubbery while aiming a rifle at a member of Trump’s security detail. Routh’s trial began earlier Thursday.
“The guy was caught in a bush with an AK-47. They tried this in Butler. They succeeded yesterday,” Trump said. “It’s tragic that our country has come to this, and it’s even more tragic that it’s being celebrated by so many on the left. It’s truly sick. These are disgusting, deranged people. I don’t think the country will stand for it because 99.999% of the country are on the side of good, righteousness, God. Evil has never prevailed in the United States of America. It’s not going to prevail here.”
Trump blamed mainstream outlets such as MSNBC for labeling Kirk a “right-wing activist.” He said the description stemmed from Kirk’s questioning of transgender involvement in mass shootings and his opposition to men competing in women’s sports.
“He has the audacity to question things like that and, you know, loves God, loves the flag, loves the country, loves family, believes in the family unit, believes in having no crime on our streets,” Trump said. “But yet, he’s very far-right wing, according to MSNBC. It’s tragic. And listen, Rob, I mean, it’s what they’ve done to our family the entire time. First, they try to impeach. Then they tried to silence. Then they tried to gag order. Then they ripped us off of social media. Then they tried to imprison [using] every DA [district attorney] and AG [attorney general].
“Then they try and take you off of ballots in states. Then they go after your allies, they try to imprison them. And then when that doesn’t work, they try to kill my father multiple times. And then they go after Charlie Kirk. This is what they do. This is the siege that they lay. And it’s incredibly tragic.”
Trump said if trying to silence Kirk by killing him was the goal, it will backfire, citing how his father’s popularity soared higher following the Butler assassination attempt.
“They think that by trying to erase Charlie Kirk, that is going to make the movement go away,” Trump said. “They think that by killing my father that MAGA will somehow just fizzle out. In fact, it does the exact opposite. It epoxies these things in. … And we only see the bullets going one way in this country over the last ten years, and that’s toward Republicans.”
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