Jon Stewart calls for 'no shooting policy' after second assassination attempt on Trump
Comedian Jon Stewart called for political calm during the Emmy Awards on Sunday, hours after a man allegedly tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump while he was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump was unharmed and rushed to safety by Secret Service agents, some of whom fired shots when they saw a rifle barrel poking out of the bushes.
The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, is in custody and is accused of pointing an AK-47 at Trump from 300 to 500 yards away.
Stewart commented on the assassination attempt backstage during the awards show in Los Angeles, suggesting that everyone agree to a 'no shooting' policy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
'Look…I think the one rule maybe we could all benefit from in terms of engagement is "no shooting." No matter how mad you are, no matter who you don’t like, who you hate…I believe instituting a "no shooting" policy would be the way to take things down a notch,' Stewart said.
Jon Stewart, pictured at the 2024 Emmy's, urged the country to cool down amid two attempts on former President Donald Trump's life in the past two months
The part-time host of The Daily Show also sought to distinguish between what he and his colleagues do during breaking news events like the attempt on Trump's life and the approach by news media.
'These are incredibly talented producers, writers, comics - as long as we try and stay to, I think, what we do well, we'll try and take any situation as it comes. As long as we don't fall prey to what we think might be this larger moment. We'll leave that to the actual news. Who will do it great, as we've seen,' he said.
Stewart accepted the award for best talk series for The Daily Show, which beat out 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', 'Late Night With Seth Meyers,' and 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.'
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also tried to deescalate political tensions in statements released on Sunday now that Trump has twice been the target of gunmen this year.
This shooting, which occurred at the Trump International Golf Course, happened exactly two months after a separate assassination attempt against Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was targeted while he was playing a round of golf at his course in West Palm Beach. Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw admitted that the Secret Service had 'limited' ability to protect the former president
The first assassination attempt on Trump took place on July 13 at a rally in Pennsylvania, two months to the day before the West Palm Beach attempt
Biden made the stunning admission that 'the Secret Service needs more help' and he thinks 'Congress should respond to their needs,' in his first public remarks on the shooting on Monday.
Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters at a press conference hours after the incident that the Secret Service had 'limited' ability to protect Trump at the golf course.
'The golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they're pretty much out of sight, all right, and at this level that he is at right now, he's not the sitting president,' Bradshaw said.
Unlike Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was fatally shot by Secret Service agents after he hit Trump in the ear, authorities captured the suspect in the attempted Florida assassination.
Routh, 58, was found unarmed, while a backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 style rifle were discovered at the scene he allegedly fled.
Ryan Wesley Routh, pictured, was described as 'a little cuckoo' by a neighbor, who said many people were afraid of him
Images revealed the backpack, GoPro camera and AK-47 style rifle that the gunman left behind
This diagram depicts the timeline of the shooting that was allegedly perpetrated by Routh
A neighbor described him as 'a little cuckoo,' adding that she has seen 'a lot of guns' in his house.
'I've seen the guns myself and all, and, yeah, they had a lot of guns and stuff over there, and, yeah, a lot of people were afraid of him back in the day,' the woman said.
She added: 'I just can't believe it. I mean, if I didn't see it with my own eyes, I mean the pictures and stuff and all, then I wouldn't be able to believe that.'
He is a registered Democrat and donated 19 times between September 2019 and March 2020 to the Democratic political action committee ActBlue, Federal Election Commission filings revealed.
The donations totaled more than $140 and were earmarked for individual 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates, including Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Routh's son, Oran Routh, exclusively told DailyMail.com that his father hated Trump as 'every reasonable person does.'
Routh appeared in federal court Monday with his hands and feet in shackles
Routh was smiling and laughing as he arrived at the courthouse
But he said his dad is not a violent person and couldn't believe his father would target the president.
Oran said his father moved to Hawaii a few years ago and was living with his longtime girlfriend. He said he didn't know his father was even in Florida.
Just a day after the failed assassination attempt, Routh made his first federal court appearance with his hands and feet in shackles.
The hearing lasted eight minutes and Routh was charged on two counts: possession of a firearm while a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
