Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Newsmax on Sunday that political rhetoric from Democrats is contributing to threats against President Donald Trump, pointing to the security scare at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner as part of a broader pattern.
Appearing on "Sunday Agenda," the former Democrat governor reacted to the incident Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, where a suspected gunman was detained before reaching the ballroom where Trump and other officials were gathered.
Blagojevich, who served three terms in Congress and two as governor, said the situation reflects what he described as escalating political hostility.
"If there was a way to find laws to bring charges against this potential shooter and enjoined the Democrats into the case, I think that would be right, because they are directly responsible for what's been happening in our country," he said.
He cited multiple threats against Trump, calling them historically unprecedented.
"Three assassination attempts that have made substantial steps forward against President Trump. It's unprecedented," Blagojevich said. "No president has been under the kind of threats that Trump has gone through since Abraham Lincoln."
The former governor argued that repeated characterizations of Trump by political opponents are fueling anger among some individuals.
"When they call him a Nazi, they call him a racist, they call him a misogynist … they just hate Trump," he said. "And they try to gin up the Democrat base … to do things to be so obstructing toward President Trump, ICE, law enforcement."
Blagojevich added, "It's no surprise that this young guy did what he did, because these are the very people who are likely to commit these sorts of crimes."
The incident disrupted the annual event, a high-profile gathering of journalists, lawmakers, and administration officials. Authorities said the suspect, who reportedly had multiple weapons, was stopped before entering the main event area.
Blagojevich praised law enforcement for preventing a potentially deadly outcome.
"God bless the Secret Service for the great work they did last night," he said, noting they were "protecting all those Democratic members of Congress who were in that room as well."
He also tied the episode to ongoing political disputes in Washington, urging Democrats to end their obstruction to funding the Department of Homeland Security, which has been partially shut down since February because of their objections to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts.
"They ought to pass the Homeland Security bill so they can fund Homeland Security and stop using that as blackmail," he said.
Blagojevich said decisions about future security protocols, including whether top officials should attend the same events, should be left to professionals, but he framed the incident as another example of what he called Democrat obstruction.
"They ought to go along and protect our presidents and all of our government officials and stop playing politics," he said.
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