Eric Trump was accused of amping up the divisive rhetoric again just days after an assassination attempt on his father sparked widespread calls for Americans to cool down the political climate.
“Since when he went down to that escalator, they tried to impeach him, they’ve gone after us, they’ve gone after me,” Eric Trump said of Donald Trump to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday night.
“They’ve done everything to try and strip him of his wealth and of his fame. They’ve tried to break up our family. They’ve done everything possible to try and get him and kill him, and they literally tried to kill him this week,” he added.
People on social media took issue with the use of “they,” ostensibly implying Democrats, who impeached the former president twice. (He was acquitted both times by the Senate).
The gunman who shot at Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a registered Republican who had once donated $15 to a liberal group. Authorities are still working to determine his motivations and have not disclosed this information to the public. One rally attendee was killed in the shooting and three others, including Trump, were wounded.
The violence drew bipartisan condemnation and calls to bring down the temperature in politics. In a speech on Sunday, President Joe Biden urged Americans to “stand together” and “take a step back” to figure out a path forward.
Donald Trump, too, has called for unity, though he seemed to be back to his usual antics on social media by Monday, as were several Republicans who spoke at the first day of the party’s convention.
“‘They’??? Doesn’t sound like turning down the volume. Unify, my ass,” one user said on X (formerly Twitter) of Eric Trump’s comment.
“Let’s unify the country behind Trump — except ‘they’ of course,” commented another.
The anti-Trump group MeidasTouch said it was “really dangerous rhetoric that could inspire more violence.”
At another point in his interview on Fox News, Eric Trump also called for calm, while simultaneously rebuking MSNBC by merging the news network’s name with the abbreviation for the Democratic National Committee.
“Everybody needs to stop. I was down on the floor before, and I got attacked by MSDNC, as we call them, and I go, you guys couldn’t wait 24 hours? Please, just, you know, just cool it off a little bit,” he said.
“Everybody just relax. This room, as you can see out here, is full of love. I mean, the patriotism, the American flags, the cowboy hats. This is the best of America,” he added.
See some of the reactions to his comments below.