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The attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump was enabled by his political adversaries, a Kremlin spokesperson said Sunday.
“After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena using legal instruments at first, courts, the prosecutor’s office, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in jeopardy,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian state media.
A gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired multiple shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, grazing the Republican candidate’s right ear. Crooks was then shot dead. Little is known about Crooks’ background and his motive is still being investigated.
Moscow does not “believe that the attempt to eliminate and assassinate Trump was organized by the current authorities,” Peskov said, but added “the atmosphere around candidate Trump … provoked what America is confronting today.”
The Kremlin’s statement echoes Republican talking points, with some of Trump’s allies seeking to pin the blame for the shooting on Democrats, accusing them of whipping up hatred against the former president.
U.S. President Joe Biden has condemned the attack and called for the “temperature of politics” to be lowered.
“Russia has always condemned and we strongly condemn any expressions of violence during political struggle,” Peskov said. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not spoken with Trump and had no plans to call him.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that Trump has “already won” the upcoming U.S. presidential election in a post on social media accompanied by a picture of Trump’s mugshot.
