Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, is raising multiple questions about Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected assassin in the second foiled attempt to end former President Donald Trump’s life.
On Sunday, Secret Service spotted a barrel of a gun poking out of the shrubbery at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, where the former president was playing that afternoon.
After shooting in the direction of the spotted gun, Routh is reported to have fled the scene in a stolen vehicle.
A witness observed the make and model of the stolen vehicle occupied by Routh, which allowed the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to locate and apprehend Routh in Martin County – approximately 45 miles from the golf course where he was allegedly camped out for nearly 12 hours.
Pappert, on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, questioned how Routh knew Trump would be at the Florida golf course on that particular Sunday when such an event was not on the former president’s schedule.
“It is very peculiar that he seemed to have this level of inside information,” Pappert said.
Pappert also discussed Routh’s obsession with the Ukraine war against Russia and how the suspected assassin traveled to Ukraine to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight for Ukraine.
Routh also published an e-book titled Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen-Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the end of Humanity, of which he wrote that Iran should assassinate Trump.
Pappert said Routh’s writings in the e-book “come across as the rantings of a madman in some instances.”
Noting how Routh reportedly owned a small construction business with his son and lived in Hawaii, Pappert questioned how Routh was able to afford an extended overseas trip to Ukraine and, afterwards, to Washington D.C.
“This is not a wealthy man. It boggles the mind how this person could leave his business, have a falling out with his son and have, it seems to me, no income coming in whatsoever. He’s not collecting donations. He doesn’t have a website and yet he’s able to leave everything and go to Ukraine for several months and then go hang out in Washington D.C. for a few months when he comes back home,” Pappert said.
“So it is very bizarre how this person seems to have unlimited funds,” Pappert added.
Pappert also questioned how Routh was able to obtain an AK-47 rifle, given his criminal history.
“It’s also bizarre how somebody who was arrested for possessing a so-called ‘weapon of mass destruction,’ a fully automatic machine gun in 2002, was even able to get an AK 47, as he is alleged to have done [on Sunday],” Pappert said.
In regards to the mainstream media’s coverage of the second foiled assassination attempt of Trump, Pappert explained how even though Routh sported a Biden-Harris campaign sticker on his pickup truck, the media is blaming Trump and Republicans for the assassination attempt.
“When the guy is spotted with a Biden-Harris bumper sticker on his work truck, when he has a book where he basically endorses the Democratic Party and everything they stand for now, it is still Republicans’ fault when they’re being shot at,” Pappert said.
“It is the most absurd victim blaming in the history of the party on the left. And I don’t think Americans are going to take it lying down,” Pappert added.
Moving forward, Pappert said he “unfortunately” believes Sunday’s attempt to end Trump’s life will not be the last before the November 5 general election.
“I pray it’s not successful, but I think the media’s total disregard for their role in this is all but ensuring it,” Pappert said.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
