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'He was a Republican': Fox News contributor Juan Williams reminded his colleagues that the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump wasn't a Dem (www.rawstory.com)

submitted 3 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/usnews@beehaw.org

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Fox News contributor Juan Williams reminded his colleagues that the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump was a Republican.

"I mean, it's not only when you think about the president, former President Trump, but also the people in the audience, the people who died, and you understand the danger," Williams explained during a panel discussion on Fox News Sunday. "It just makes you feel like the country is, the level of political polarization in the country is at a danger point."

"It's, I think, a reflection of the divisions within the United States today, not only liberal, conservative, but also on the extremes," he continued. "This young man, they say he's a Republican."

Williams said he found the scenario puzzling.

"The whole thing is just like, especially with the Internet, I think the Internet feeds a lot of the extremism that we're experiencing in the country, drives people," he explained. "The politics of grievance, anger, all the conspiracy theories."

[...]

Williams expected the Republican National Convention to "become a more zealous affirmation of President Trump as a martyr for having been shot at, and I think it's going to change the whole tone."

The FBI has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Although a motive for the assassination attempt was unclear, Pennsylvania voter records listed a person with his name and address as a Republican [...]

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[–] tardigrada@beehaw.org 33 points 3 months ago

Trump Rally Gunman Was ‘Definitely Conservative,’ classmates recall

(Archived)

Why Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump is a mystery to investigators and his ex-classmates [...]

[Former classmate] Max R. Smith recalled taking an American history course with Crooks as a sophomore. He did recall Crooks making political statements — but they shed no light on his actions Saturday.

“He definitely was conservative,” he said. “It makes me wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on the conservative candidate.”

Smith recalled a mock debate in which their history professor posed government policy questions and asked students to stand on one side of the classroom or the other to signal their support or opposition for a given proposal.

“The majority of the class were on the liberal side, but Tom, no matter what, always stood his ground on the conservative side,” Smith said. “That’s still the picture I have of him. Just standing alone on one side while the rest of the class was on the other.”