Putin spokesman says Trump assassination attempt latest move to keep him from the White House

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was merely the latest development in a scheme to prevent him from winning the election in November and returning to the White House.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow condemns Saturday’s shooting during a Trump campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, that wounded the former president and killed a man who was attending the event. The shooting left two others injured, officials said.

“After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena using legal instruments at first — courts, the prosecutor’s office, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate — it was obvious to all outside observers that [Mr. Trump’s] life was in jeopardy,” Mr. Peskov said, according to the official Russian TASS news agency.

But the Secret Service and the FBI have yet to confirm the motive of the shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20. He was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper team that was part of the security detachment at the rally.

“Russia has always condemned and we strongly condemn any expressions of violence during political struggle,” Mr. Peskov told reporters, according to TASS.

Mr. Putin won’t be calling the former U.S. president, who was rushed from the scene after a bullet struck his ear, Mr. Peskov said.

“As far as I know, no, there are no such plans,” Mr. Peskov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump is another indication that Washington regularly fans the flames of political violence.

“The United States of America must take stock of its policies on inciting hatred toward political opponents, countries and people, and sponsoring terrorism. The bell is already ringing in Washington,” Ms. Zakharova posted on her Telegram page.

However, the list of high-profile Russians who have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances after crossing Mr. Putin is long.

They include Aleksei Navalny, an opposition politician who crusaded against corruption even while in prison; Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group who led an aborted mutiny against military officials; and Aleksandr Litvinenko, a former security agent who died in London after being poisoned with polonium 210.