Suspect in Trump’s Second Assassination Attempt: Voted for Trump, Then Wrote a Book Begging Iran to Kill Him

New Africa / shutterstock.com
New Africa / shutterstock.com

Here’s a bizarre one for the headlines: the guy who allegedly tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump last Sunday also happened to write and self-publish a book last year. In his literary masterpiece, he flat-out encouraged Iran to assassinate Trump. Because, you know, when you’re already committing to terrible ideas, why not sprinkle in some international intrigue while you’re at it?

The would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested this past weekend after reportedly stalking Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course. Routh thought it’d be a good idea to aim a gun at the former president while he was out golfing. Lucky for Trump, the Secret Service actually did their job and took him down before a single shot was fired.

Curious about who Routh really is? He’s not your average single-minded extremist. Instead, he’s a political chameleon. Records show he’s backed a wildly diverse group of politicians, from former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. The next, he’s suddenly a fan of Trump—well, at least until he wasn’t.

Besides his varied political tastes, Routh also had some international ambitions. Not content with domestic political drama, he tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine. In 2022, Routh headed to Ukraine to recruit for its International Legion and briefly became the darling of Western media. He was quoted left and right by everyone from the Financial Times to Newsweek to The New York Times, all in an effort to drum up more foreign fighters for the war against Russia.

One of the biggest pièce de résistance is that he suggested Iran take the initiative and assassinate Trump. Yes, you read that right. He wrote it in his self-published book, “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War.”

In this literary gem, Routh didn’t hold back on his opinions of the former commander-in-chief. He called Trump a “buffoon” and a “fool,” blaming him for the January 6 Capitol riot and for pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. Oh yeah, in true irony, Routh admitted in the same book that he actually voted for Trump. Yep, he went from casting his ballot for Trump to practically begging Iran to take him out.

Routh seemed to deeply regret the fact that he once voted for Trump. He even blamed himself—and all other Trump voters—for electing what he called the “child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless.”

But that’s not all. After his Trump-supporting days were over, Routh started leaning more toward the Democratic camp. Earlier this year, he encouraged Americans to vote for President Joe Biden because, in his words, “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot, and we cannot lose.” It’s a 180-degree turn for someone who once cast his vote for Trump, but hey, at this point, Routh’s political ping-ponging doesn’t seem all that surprising.

In addition to all his flip-flopping, Routh also took it upon himself to guilt-trip Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in July. After the incident at the rally in Pennsylvania where Trump was grazed by a bullet, Routh suggested that Biden and Harris should visit the victims, as well as the family of the firefighter, Corey Comperatore, who tragically lost his life. Why? Because, according to Routh, Trump wouldn’t bother to do it.

Well, surprise, surprise—Trump actually did meet with the victims’ families, including Comperatore’s. He even had the late firefighter’s uniform displayed on stage during the Republican National Convention. Routh should have done a bit more research before trying to paint Trump as someone who wouldn’t care about the people affected by the attack.

Routh’s political journey is a wild ride, to say the least. One minute, he’s voting for Trump; the next, he’s begging Iran to take him out, and somewhere in between, he’s pushing people to vote for Biden and volunteering for Ukraine. If there were a political spectrum bingo card, Routh would have a full house. Political ambition aside, maybe Routh should stick to writing and leave the real-world antics to someone else. Amazon is listing his book as a best seller, so his writing career is still a go.