Donald Trump furious at ‘election interference’ as would-be assassin suspect Ryan Routh enters plea
Donald Trump unleashed on Democrats using security threats as ‘election interference’, as Ryan Routh faced court over the alleged attempt to assassinate the former president.
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The man accused of plotting to kill Donald Trump at his Florida golf course, Ryan Routh, pleaded not guilty to the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
Mr Routh, 58, appeared in federal court as his lawyers entered not guilty pleas to five charges, which included several firearm offences.
The short appearance came as a furious Mr Trump unloaded on the Democratic Party for using continued security threats as a means of “election interference”; suggesting his campaign appearances and events have been limited due to lack of resources.
“The Democrats are interfering with my Campaign by not giving us the proper number of people within Secret Service that are necessary for Security,” he said, adding that people are “doing everything possible to kill me”.
“We need more Secret Service, and we need them NOW. It is ELECTION INTERFERENCE that we have to turn away thousands of people from arenas and venues because it is not being provided to us.”
Mr Routh was the second person allegedly prevented from assassinating Mr Trump after the first gunman, Thomas Crooks, was killed in the attempt.
US intelligence officials believe there are more “real and specific” plots to target Mr Trump, including from the government of Iran.
Laywers requested a trial by jury for Mr Routh, who was being held in custody pending his next court date.
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TRUMP BLASTS ‘MENTALLY IMPAIRED’ HARRIS
Donald Trump has called presidential rival Kamala Harris “mentally impaired” and said illegal immigrants were out to cut the throats of ordinary Americans in their own homes as he doubled down on the racial rhetoric fuelling his campaign to return to the White House.
Mr Trump was seeking to strike back at Ms Harris after she visited the US-Mexico border on Friday and vowed to do more to control asylum claims and undocumented migrant crossings.
The 78-year-old Republican described former California prosecutor Ms Harris, 59, as “dumb.”
“Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country,” he said.
The issue of immigration is one of the Democratic vice president’s weakest in polling, as she runs neck-and-neck against Mr Trump in the November 5 election.
Mr Trump dismissed her speech at the border, swearing and telling supporters in the small town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on Saturday that President Biden and Ms Harris are responsible for an “invasion” of violent criminals.
Flanked on stage by large mugshots of migrants accused of crimes, he painted a picture of an America under violent assault, despite a plunge this year in illegal border crossings and a steep decline in crime overall, particularly murder.
“They will walk into your kitchen, they’ll cut your throat,” Trump said of illegal immigrants.
“Small towns in America are terrified of migrants coming in and, even when they haven’t arrived, they’re terrified,” he said. They will “rape, pillage, thieve, plunder and kill the people of the United States of America.” The illegal migrants, whom he called “animals,” will take the jobs of minorities and union workers, he said.
‘GRAVE THREAT’: IRAN HACKERS TARGET TRUMP AHEAD OF ELECTION
Iran is ramping up efforts to interfere with the US election with fake “news” websites and hackers targeting Donald Trump, American officials and researchers said, as the Republican nominee reported threats on his life from the Islamic republic.
Iran, long known for orchestrating clandestine influence operations against its adversaries, has emerged as a top disinformation threat facing America’s November 5 election.
The US unveiled charges late last week against three Iranians over a “wide-ranging hacking campaign,” with Attorney-General Merrick Garland saying they were attempting to undermine Mr Trump’s election effort.
A slew of fake sites masquerading as news outlets are meanwhile fabricating reports critical of Mr Trump, disinformation researchers said, with much of the content apparently created using cheap and widely available generative AI tools.
The fake outlets reflect “the depth and co-ordinated planning of Iranian influence operations” to sway US voters, Dina Sadek, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), told reporters.
HARRIS SEEKS TO ‘TROLL’ TRUMP OVER DEBATE
Kamala Harris will seek to goad Donald Trump into participating in a second debate when the former president attends a college football game.
The Harris campaign has arranged to have a small plane fly over Tuscaloosa, Alabama, during the game with a banner declaring, “Trump’s Punting on 2nd Debate.”
It’s a challenge that won’t just be visible to those cheering on the teams from the stands, a campaign official tells CNN. The Harris campaign will also air a national ad during one of the most highly anticipated games of college football where she calls on the former president to meet her on the debate stage one more time.
“Winners never back down from a challenge,” the voiceover says. “Champions know it’s any time, any place. But losers, they whine and waffle and take their ball home.”
TRUMP SLAMS HARRIS OVER BORDER VISIT
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris pledged she would tighten the border and fix America’s broken immigration system on her first visit to the US-Mexico frontier as a presidential candidate.
The US vice president is playing catch-up on immigration, with a majority of Americans saying they trust Republican rival Donald Trump more than her on one of the most important issues for voters ahead of November’s election.
In a speech in Douglas, Arizona before a friendly audience, Harris tried to straddle a tough-on-illegal-migration line with a promise to reach across the aisle to fix an immigration system she said was broken.
“The United States is a sovereign nation, and I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border and to enforce them, and I take that responsibility very seriously,” she said.
“We are also a nation of immigrants … and so we must reform our immigration system to ensure that it works in an orderly way, that it is humane and that it makes our country stronger.”
Harris said as president she would revive a bipartisan border bill Trump “tanked” last year, which would add 1,500 border agents and pay for 100 machines to detect smuggled fentanyl, a synthetic opioid ravaging US communities.
NEW POLL SHOWS HARRIS LEADS TRUMP IN KEY STATE
A Fox News poll shows Ms Harris has increased her lead among voter demographics including women and voters under 30. The battleground state of Pennsylvania is considered pivotal for both candidates in the race for the presidency.
NEW EVIDENCE IN TRUMP ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’ CASE
New evidence has been filed in a federal “election interference” case against Donald Trump over an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
While currently under seal, a redacted version of the evidence is set for release in a potential “October surprise” just weeks before the 2024 election between Mr Trump and Kamala Harris.
Special counsel Jack Smith filed the 180-page legal brief, containing previously unseen evidence, to support of new charges following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
A spokesman for the Smith team, Peter Carr, confirmed that prosecutors had met their deadline for filing a brief, which will remain under seal until redactions of sensitive details are made.
Prosecutors had indicated they would submit both a public version and a sealed version of the new evidence, which was expected to include FBI interview notes and transcripts from grand jury testimonies.
It comes after a Supreme Court ruling gave Mr Trump broad immunity for actions undertaken as president, requiring a new indictment to be filed before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
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Originally published as Donald Trump furious at ‘election interference’ as would-be assassin suspect Ryan Routh enters plea
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