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By Flynn Nicholls
US News Reporter
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Horror author Steven King, a frequent Donald Trump critic, has gone viral with a post about the man suspected of trying to assassinate the former president on Sunday.
"Ryan Routh looks several cans short of a six-pack," King wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, garnering more than 360,000 views by Wednesday morning.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been charged with gun offenses following an alleged assassination attempt on Trump, the second since July. He was arrested after the Secret Service spotted a gunman by a bush-lined fence at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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Conservative figures, including Fox News host Sean Hannity, have alleged that Routh was a Democrat, as he has donated exclusively to Democratic causes over the past five years, making 19 donations through ActBlue that totaled $140. His contributions ranged from $1 to $25.
However, his political views were erratic. In July, Routh wrote in a post on X that he had voted for Trump in 2016.
"While you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and devolving," he wrote.
Routh previously gave several media interviews, which offered early insight into his character and potential motives.
He was a strong advocate for Ukraine in its war against Russia and spoke to Newsweek Romania in 2022 about his efforts to recruit volunteers for the International Legion Defense of Ukraine, a unit of Ukraine's Ground Forces.
He said he fought in Ukraine, but Evelyn Aschenbrenner, a U.S. citizen from Detroit who worked with Ukraine's International Legion for two years beginning in March 2022—first in administration and then as a recruiter—branded Routh as "delusional" and a "liar" over his claims.
A former volunteer told Newsweek that Routh had sent Ukraine's International Legion a number of "hostile" and "manipulative" messages over a two-year period.
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In another X post, Routh declared his support for former Republican presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.
It appears that Routh developed intense regret over his 2016 vote for Trump, whom he later referred to as "a brainless child."
His son Oran Routh told the Daily Mail that his father hated the former president.
Routh's criminal record, which dates back to the late 1990s, highlights a series of prior encounters with law enforcement.
He appears to have spent most of his adult life in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he had multiple run-ins with the law over the years in Guilford County. These included a 2002 felony conviction for possessing a weapon of mass destruction and a 2010 felony conviction for stolen goods. His record also includes numerous misdemeanors.
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