Public records show shifting political views for Trump assassination plot suspect

Social media users are variously claiming the man accused of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump at his golf club is registered as a Republican or Democratic voter, attempting to pin the attempted violence on one side or the other. But North Carolina state voting records list Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, as unaffiliated, and other public filings and his chaotic writings online reveal a complicated political history.

"Ryan Wesley Routh, a democrat from North Carolina who moved to Maui to work with FEMA building shacks," says a September 15, 2024 X post. "This falls on the entire democrat party, the media, and the elites who push for more fighting in Ukraine instead of peace."

Another September 15 post on Threads, which garnered thousands of interactions, offered a different view: "MAGA's can try to spin this all they want, but Ryan Wesley Routh (today’s shooter) is a Republican and voted for Trump in 2016."

Amid a heated presidential race pitting Democrat Kamala Harris against the Republican nominee, the incident sparked partisan claims. Some called Routh "a Republican, gun enthusiast, and Covid conspiracy theorist,"  while others said he "drank the kool-aid the Democrats were pouring and begged for more."

The posts follow Routh's arrest September 15 after a US Secret Service agent with Trump's security detail thwarted what would have been the second attempt on the former president's life in as many months. The agent saw what appeared to be the barrel of a rifle pointing out of a tree line on the perimeter of his West Palm Beach golf course, according to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI special agent.

The 58-year-old, a self-employed builder based in Hawaii with an arrest record spanning decades, was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in his initial court appearance September 16. He is an active supporter of Ukraine, having traveled to the country after Russia's 2022 invasion.

But voter registration data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections show he is registered as an unaffiliated -- or independent -- voter who most recently cast an in-person ballot during the 2024 Democratic primary election.

The state's records indicate Routh registered in 2012 and voted during the 2008 and 2012 general elections, as well as in 2009 municipal elections. He had previously registered in 1988 but was removed from the rolls.

Patrick Gannon, public information director for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, told AFP in an email that Routh originally registered in 1988 as a Democrat but changed his party to unaffiliated in 2002. He was removed from the rolls in 2003 following a felony conviction, re-registered in 2005 as an unaffiliated voter, then removed again in 2010 after another felony conviction, Gannon said.

In 2012, Routh submitted his current registration as an unaffiliated voter.

Comments on Trump, politics

Routh's social media posts show a range of shifting opinions about US politicians. He wrote in 2020 that he supported Trump in 2016 but later regretted doing so, adding: "I will be glad when you are gone."

Gannon told AFP that Routh requested an absentee ballot in 2016 but did not actually vote.

Routh also expressed support in scattered 2020 posts for Democrat Bernie Sanders and former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat-turned-Trump adviser. Federal Election Commission data shows various small-dollar donations from a Ryan Routh in Hawaii to several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, including Gabbard, Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, Tom Steyer and Beto O’Rourke (archived here).

In early 2024, he urged Republicans Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy to create a "winning ticket" that would defeat Trump in the primary campaign.

In April, he appeared to support President Joe Biden's re-election, writing that the Democrat should be running on the slogan "Keep America democratic and free" -- and that Trump's "Make America Great Again" tagline should be "MASA.. make America slaves again."

Routh's son Oran told the Daily Mail that his father hates Trump as "every reasonable person does."

In a 2023 book about Ukraine that Routh self-published, he wrote that he did not see himself as a member of either major party: "I get so tired of people asking me if I am a Democrat or Republican as I refuse to be put in a category and I must always answer independent and I think that most intelligent people judge every situation case by case and vote solely on the merit of the candidate and not about parties or groups."

Living in Hawaii

Routh's LinkedIn profile lists him as the owner of Hawaii-based CampBox in Honolulu, a company building low-cost homes to fight homelessness (archived here).

An AFP photo of his home in Kaaawa, Hawaii shows a Biden-Harris bumper sticker -- the decal used before Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris for the presidency -- on the back of a white truck in the driveway.

Records show Routh is a registered voter in Hawaii and North Carolina.

A spokesperson for the City and County of Honolulu said Routh was registered there and that his status is active. The official added that authorities do not collect information on voters’ party affiliation.

AFP has fact-checked other claims about US politics here.