Back in 2015, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson said Republican donors need to “put a bullet in Donald Trump.”
Now, the old clip is being recirculated by the former president’s proponents, claiming Wilson should be investigated for inciting violence.
During a 2015 appearance on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes about the 2016 presidential election, Wilson said that in order to find a candidate “to post up against Hillary Clinton,” Republican donors need to “put a bullet in Donald Trump” by donating to other Republican challengers.
Wilson’s quote, specifically his phrase “they’re still going to have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump,” is now going viral on X, as many seem to think he said it recently.
With Trump having faced two assassination attempts in the last few months, Wilson’s remark is also being flagged as a way to ding the Lincoln Project, the anti-Trump organization centrist Republicans founded in 2019.
“Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project threatened to ‘put a bullet in Donald Trump,’” former Trump operative Roger Stone tweeted today. “This is a violation of federal law. Why has this twisted little freak not been arrested, tried and jailed ?”
“This is disgraceful from Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project, after multiple assassination attempts already on Trump,” an X user tweeted, “he still goes on national television and says this: ‘they’re still going to have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump.’”
“‘You’re still gonna have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump.’ — Rick Wilson,” Malaysian far-right influencer Ian Miles Cheong tweeted. “This is what he’s up against. Where’s the Secret Service?”
The clip of Wilson on All In has resurfaced before and been taken out of context many times: In September, Wilson was accused of inciting violence against Trump. Last year, and in 2022, Wilson also received backlash for the clip.
Wilson, as well as other Lincoln Project members, have frequently been targeted by right-wing influencers for their vitriolic anti-Trump ads that routinely go viral.
The organization blew up before the 2020 election but struggled in the wake of its massive success, facing accusations of inappropriate conduct by its members.
In the wake of the Trump assassination attempts, the language of many non-violent remarks have been rebranded as threats, namely President Joe Biden’s “time to put Trump in the bulls-eye” quip.
But while right-wingers are insisting these comments put Trump in danger, they are simultaneously the ones recirculating old clips that have long been forgotten.
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