McConnell, Johnson Urge Harris to Tone Down ‘Irresponsible’ Anti-Trump Rhetoric after Assassination Attempts

Republican leaders are urging Vice President Kamala Harris to tone down the hostile rhetoric she’s directed towards former president Donald Trump in recent weeks, following the two assassination attempts against him.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) released a statement Friday denouncing Harris for calling Trump a “fascist” during her CNN town hall Wednesday night and suggesting her rhetoric could encourage political violence.

“Labeling a political opponent as a ‘fascist,’ risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to try robbing voters of their choice before Election Day,” Johnson and McConnell said.

“Vice President Harris may want the American people to entrust her with the sacred duty of executive authority. But first, she must abandon the base and irresponsible rhetoric that endangers both American lives and institutions,” they added.

Harris issued a rare public address to reporters outside her Naval Observatory residence on Wednesday, warning that Trump has become increasingly “unhinged and unstable.” She cited recent reports in The Atlantic and the New York Times in which Trump’s former chief of staff, General John Kelly, argued that the former president fits the definition of a “fascist” and had on previous occasions praised Hitler. The Trump campaign vigorously denied the allegation.

Both Republicans leaders received briefings on “the ongoing and persistent” threat to Trump from American adversaries. They did not specify the adversaries in question, but a Pakistani national with ties to Iran was arrested earlier this year for plotting to assassinate Trump. Likewise, Iranian hackers are believed to have targeted Trump’s presidential campaign to advance the interests of the regime and hurt his electoral chances.

Trump was the victim of two assassination attempts in recent months as the presidential campaign heated up and polls showed a consistently tight race. In July, 20-year-old lone gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at Trump from a nearby rooftop during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., wounding Trump’s right ear. The former president defiantly pumped his fist and chanted “fight!” only moments after Crooks shot him.

Crooks’s assassination attempt is one of the biggest law enforcement blunders in American history and was made possible by a litany of mistakes from the Secret Service leading up to it. The FBI has not determined a motive for Crooks, whose rampage remains the subject of multiple ongoing investigations.

Two months later, gunman Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, allegedly attempted to shoot Trump at his west Palm Beach, Florida golf course, but a Secret Service agent shot at Routh before he could fire. Routh is being prosecuted on five criminal charges tied to his failed assassination attempt and he has plead not guilty.

Prior to the suspected assassination attempt, Routh claimed to be recruiting volunteer fighters for Ukraine’s war effort and wrote a self-published manifesto where he urged Iran to kill Trump. He also built an extensive criminal rap sheet, and his son has been arrested for alleged child porn possession.

For a few days after Crooks’s assassination attempt, elected officials from across the political spectrum, including President Biden, called for lowering the temperature of American political rhetoric to prevent further instances of targeted political violence. However, those sentiments were short-lived, and both parties resumed the intense campaign rhetoric almost immediately.