In an interview with CNN, Oran Routh hoped everything has “just been blown out of proportion.”
“Ryan is my father, and I don’t have any comment beyond a character profile of him as a loving and caring father, and honest, hardworking man.I don’t know what’s happened in Florida, and I hope things have just been blown out of proportion, because from the little I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like the man I know to do anything crazy, much less violent. He’s a good father, and a great man, and I hope you can portray him in an honest light,” Oran Routh said.
Trump was playing golf at the time when the incident took place. One of the members of the secret service agent noticed a rifle sticking out of from a fence and opened fire. The agent fired four to six shots before the suspect fled.The witness spotted the suspected shooter and captured a photo of the suspect’s vehicle and license plate which ultimately helped law enforcement officials locate the car driving north on I-95 in Martin County, one county to the north of Palm Beach.
In a separate interview, the son mentioned that his father had volunteered to provide humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian army in their fight against the Russian forces that invaded the country in February 2022.
He repeatedly stated that he had not been able to speak to his father or get information about the accusations against him, so he did not want to speak on his behalf. However, he emphasized that his father was passionate about the Ukraine cause.
“My dad went over there and saw people fucking fighting and dying,” the younger Routh said during a brief telephone call with the Guardian when asked about his father. “He … tried to make sure shit was cool, and shit was not cool.”
Referring to the former president, who days earlier at the presidential debate would not answer whether he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia, Oran Routh said: “Meanwhile, this guy’s sitting behind his fucking desk, not doing a goddamn thing.”
Posts on Twitter/X associated with an account under Ryan Routh’s name also showed that Ukraine was an important cause to him. Two posts from August 2023 addressed Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with one mentioning Routh’s presence in Kyiv and his desire to create a tent city for foreigners to raise support and equipment.
The other suggested that Zelenskyy ask Congress to put all members of the American military on paid leave so they could fight as civilians in Ukraine.
A third post from December also expressed concern for Haiti, which has been dealing with violent civil unrest.
Trump invoked both Ukraine and Haiti in his recent debate with Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for the 5 November White House race.
When asked what he would tell his father if he could speak to him, Oran Routh said, “I know the discourse isn’t working, but we still need to stick to the discourse.”
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the younger Routh, 35, acknowledged that his father hated Trump like “every reasonable person does” but insisted that he is not a violent person. He expressed shock at the allegations, stating that his father has only had a couple of traffic tickets, as far as he knows, and that the incident is not in line with his character.
