JD Vance has admitted that he has no idea why Thomas Crooks tried to kill Donald Trump despite promising to solve the mystery surrounding the greatest security failing since JFK’s assassination.
‘I don’t know,’ the Vice President conceded when grilled about Crooks’ motivation in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.
Vance – just five days before the presidential election – pledged to ‘get to the bottom’ of the case after Crooks shot Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, 2024.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Vance blamed Joe Biden’s campaign for portraying Trump as a fascist, stating: ‘That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.’
But pressed Tuesday about who was at fault for the glaring hole in the investigation, Vance blamed the gunman himself for leaving behind few clues, calling him a ‘loner who got radicalized on the internet’.
‘He was a Trump guy at some point in his life and then about six months or so before he took a shot at the President of the United States, or maybe it was a little bit beforehand, he went from very radically pro-Trump to very radically anti-Trump,’ he said.
The Vice President said his discussions with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies about the gunman’s motivation had yielded nothing conclusive.
‘I have not gotten a satisfactory answer to how Thomas Crooks went from radically pro-Trump to so radically anti-Trump,’ he said. ‘Maybe we will never know the answer to that – sometimes motivations go unsolved.’
JD Vance told the Daily Mail that he has no idea why Thomas Crooks tried to kill Donald Trump
Crooks, 20, was shot dead after attempting to kill the now-President at a rally in 2024
Vance said that law enforcement would continue probing the case.
The mystery sparked claims during the election campaign that Trump was targeted by the so-called deep state.
The President’s inner circle even suggested that a foreign power was behind the attempted hit.
The FBI announced in November that Crooks had acted alone, with Kash Patel and Dan Bongino appearing on Fox News to deliver the official verdict after an eight-month investigation by the Trump administration.
‘We have reviewed this case over and over – looked into every nugget. We have spoken to the families, the President – there is no cover-up here,’ Bongino said. ‘There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it.’
The case now sits in a ‘pending, inactive’ status, meaning that further investigation would only be pursued on credible new information.
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Trump’s ear was injured in the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024
Crooks opened fire at the packed campaign rally, piercing the President’s ear. The would-be assassin was shot dead moments later by a Secret Service sniper.
The President, in an extraordinary moment, raised his clenched fist as he was mobbed by bodyguards, shouting to his supporters: ‘Fight, fight, fight.’
Three spectators were struck by Crooks’ gunfire, including firefighter Corey Comperatore who was killed while shielding his wife and their two daughters.
