Former President Trump’s golf partner reacted to a second apparent assassination attempt on the 2024 GOP nominee’s life Monday on “Hannity.”
Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor, told Fox News host Sean Hannity he was playing golf with Trump Sunday afternoon when the former president was evacuated from his West Palm Beach golf course after shots rang out.
Members of the FBI are seen at the crime scene outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024, following a shooting incident at former President Donald Trump’s golf course. Trump’s campaign reported Sunday that there had been “gunshots in his vicinity” but added that the Republican presidential candidate was safe. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
“Yesterday was quite a day. I actually feel blessed that I was there yesterday. And the reason I feel blessed Sean, is that I got to see what it’s like for my dear friend to live his normal life. His normal life, which is punctuated by two attempts to assassinate him in the last 60 days, being vilified since he left the presidency, falsely accused [and] harassed,” Witkoff said.
“Here he was yesterday on a beautiful day, just trying to get some rest and relaxation like all the rest of us and there’s a man with an…assault rifle who’s attempting to kill him. It was terrible. But I got to see… I got to see a man who was stoic, courageous, cared about his friends’ safety first before his own life. He was an inspiration to everybody who was around him yesterday. I wish the whole country could have witnessed what happened yesterday because they would have seen a real leader.”
The suspect in the apparent assassination attempt, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, was charged Monday with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and having a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
A Secret Service advance agent spotted what appeared to be a rifle poking out of the tree line near Trump’s golf course and opened fire, causing Routh to run away.
He was stopped and detained by local law enforcement about 45 minutes after fleeing the scene, according to a criminal complaint released by the Department of Justice. Cell phone records also allege that Routh was in the vicinity of the golf course tree line for about 12 hours, from roughly 2 a.m. to 1:31 p.m.
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Agents recovered a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a bag containing food near the tree line area from which Routh fled, according to the complaint.
Pictures of evidence found at the fence of former President Donald Trump’s golf course are shown at a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024 following a second attempt on the president’s life. (Candan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images)
Witkoff said as a gun owner, he knew immediately he had heard gunfire. “The Secret Service were exceptional. They had the president secured, in my estimation, because I was five yards away from him, in my estimation, maybe after the first shot, certainly after the second shot. So, by the time the fourth shot rang out, the president was on his way with that detail,” he explained.
“It was as if they had practiced it 500 times before. It was pretty awesome to watch them. And they were heroic because their lives were on the line.”
Ronald Rowe, Jr., the US Secret Service acting director, told reporters Monday that Routh did not have a line of sight to Trump, and he did not get any shots off.
Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the U.S. Secret Service addresses the media at a press conference with updates on the investigation into the apparent assassination attempt of former president Donald Trump, West Palm Beach, FL, Monday, September 16, 2024. (Mega for Fox News Digital)
“With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location. The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective yesterday. The former president’s protective apparatus allowed for the early identification of the threat and led to a safe evacuation. The increased assets directed by the president, by President Biden, were in place yesterday,” Rowe said.
He also praised the men and women of the Secret Service for rising to meet the moment of an “unprecedented and hyper-dynamic threat environment.”
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Rowe added that since the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pa., in July, the Secret Service has moved to increase assets to an “already enhanced security posture” for the 2024 GOP nominee.
Former President Trump was injured during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Witkoff told Hannity he’s grateful his “dear friend” wasn’t injured or killed after the incident.
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“I have like a little love thing for my dear friend. And I say to myself, thank God that he was not injured or killed, and thank God none of the other people. There were plenty of civilians, by the way, staffers from his office, people who care about him just as much as I do, two other friends of his, so there could have been a lot of really serious damage out there, and there wasn’t,” he said. “And I’m grateful to that agent who interdicted and that entire team.”