The manifesto of suspected gunman Cole Tomas Allen is no different from popular Democratic talking points, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
Leavitt, 28, who was supposed to be out on maternity leave this week, returned to the White House Briefing Room’s podium to field questions about the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.
The President’s spokesman read a long list of Democratic lawmakers’ posts in which they allude to violence as a practical solution to solve the issue of Donald Trump.
That rhetoric, she said, is responsible for radicalizing individuals to lash out at the President.
‘This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party and even some in the media,’ she declared, condemning the hostile language about Trump.
‘This hateful and constant and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump, day after day after day for 11 years, has helped to legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment.’
‘When you have people in positions of power that are saying things like this every single day for years, you are inspiring violence by people who are already mentally ill.’
Allen, 31, a California resident, allegedly carried out the shooting after taking the train from his home to Washington, DC. He left behind a manifesto that reportedly stated he wanted to harm Trump and Cabinet members.
Leavitt, 28, who was supposed to be on maternity this week, returned to the podium to condemn Democrats and the media for pushing violent rhetoric that she claims inspired the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
Leavitt was seated next to First Lady Melania Trump at the dinner. The pair, the President and Vice President, were quickly shepherded to safety behind the stage by Secret Service agents
Cole Thomas Allen, 31, a California resident, took a train from his home to Washington, DC, to carry out the shooting
According to a manifesto he sent to family members moments before his planned attack, Allen was attempting to take out the President and members of his inner circle.
According to the New York Post, the note said: ‘Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial.’
‘I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.’
Leavitt noted that the manifesto is no different from what many reports in the media and many Democratic lawmakers have stated publicly about Trump.
‘When you read the Manifesto of the shooter, ask yourselves, how different is the rhetoric from this almost assassin than what you read on social media and hear in various forums every single day,’ Leavitt said.
‘The answer, to be honest with yourself, is that there is no difference at all. Much of the Manifesto of the would-be assassin is indistinguishable from the words that we hear daily.’
Allen was apprehended on Saturday after sprinting through a Secret Service checkpoint with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives. He was immediately tackled and arrested by authorities after shooting at law enforcement.
One Secret Service agent was hit with gunfire, but he was alright in the aftermath as the bullet struck his bulletproof vest.
Marco Rubio shared this image of Donald Trump in the Oval Office after the White House Correspondents Dinner was interrupted by suspected shooter Cole Thomas Allen
Cole Thomas Allen apprehended on the floor of the Washington Hilton on Saturday
The would-be assassin brought a pump-action shotgun with a collapsible stock to the dinner along with a handgun and multiple knives
Trump called the agent and thanked him immediately after returning to the White House after the incident on Saturday, Leavitt said at the briefing.
The White House spokeswoman specifically called out ABC host Jimmy Kimmel for joking last week before the shooting that First Lady Melania Trump has ‘a glow like an expectant widow.’
Democrats, Leavitt said, are fixated on comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler and calling the President a fascist.
‘These are despicable statements that the American people have been consuming for years, and so many mentally observed individuals are led to believe these words are true, and then are inspired to act on it.’
