Political commentator Megyn Kelly was dismayed over yet another assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Sunday, asking viewers, “how many times do we have to go through this?”
Kelly broke down on her podcast the sequence of events that led to another attempt on Trump’s life by suspect Ryan Routh, a 58-year-old Democrat mercenary.
“An assassin somehow got by, near, the fifth hole at Trump’s golf course down in Florida, the International Golf Club at West Palm Beach, shortly before 2 p.m. with an AK-47 and was apparently determined to kill former President Donald Trump,” Kelly began.
"How many times is this man going to have to go through this? How many times are we going to have to go through this?"
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) September 16, 2024
– @megynkelly, joined by @BuckSexton and @RealBillStanton
FULL breaking news special about ANOTHER Trump assassination attempt here: https://t.co/HkRQc1tcgm pic.twitter.com/CEVhV1MllB
“Most importantly, the former president is safe at this hour,” she said. “But how many times is this man going to have to go through this? How many times are we going to have to go through this?”
The Secret Service reportedly engaged the would-be assassin — who was crouched in the bushes near the 5th hole of the golf course — with gunfire, but the suspect was still able to make his escape.
Routh was only apprehended after a witness took a photo of his getaway vehicle and gave it to authorities.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw explained during a press conference Sunday:
“Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, ‘Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tag,’ which was great,” Bradshaw told reporters. “So we had that information. Our real time crime center put it out to the license plate readers, and we were able to get a hit on that vehicle on I-95 as it was headed into Martin County. We got a hold of Martin County Sheriff’s Office, alerted them, and they spotted the vehicle and pulled it over and detained the guy.”
Kelly expressed her outrage over the fact Trump’s Secret Service detail had dropped the ball again by failing to stop the would-be assassin from getting within 500 yards of the former president and preventing him from getting away.
“This is a private golf course. You cannot get in. Not just anyone can come on the course,” Kelly noted.
“He literally almost got shot in the brain two months ago…They already had a warning…and a man lost his life in their ‘mulligan,’” she continued, referring to the July 13 assassination attempt by Thomas Crooks.
“They got complacent again…just two months later…It is inexcusable,” she added.
Watch Megyn Kelly’s full episode: