From Trump voter to would-be Trump assassin, Ryan Routh is the second person to attempt to take the presidential nominee’s life in just two months.
And like Thomas Cook, who tried to take Trump’s life less than two months ago, Routh’s political beliefs are similarly confused and oblique.
Routh, 58, voted for Trump in 2016 then became a staunch never-Trumper after the 2020 loss. He had a Biden-Harris sticker on his van yet slammed Biden online.
Routh traveled to Ukraine to be a freedom fighter and dyed his hair to be the color of the Ukrainian flag, yet was a fan of brief Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who strongly opposed helping the Ukrainians in their war against Russia.
Dr Raj Persaud, a celebrity psychologist in the UK, said his contradictory political views were a sign Routh was a disturbed person driven by delusions of grandeur rather than an ideolog truly trying to save Democracy.
Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was likely suffering from a psychiatric or personality disorder, say psychologists – although it is not clear whether he was ever diagnosed with one
Routh is pictured above during his arrest. He fled the scene after the secret service spotted him and shot in his direction
Dr Persaud said Routh appeared to have a delusional sense of grandeur, or an unrealistic sense of superiority, uniqueness or invulnerability.
Their mental health issues and sense of grandeur means they continue to struggle in society, failing to hold down a job or a relationship.
Over time, this leads to tension building up — and they start to blame those around them for their shortcomings instead of themselves.
It’s this resentment that leads them to launch an attack on a symbol of society, such as a presidential candidate, for revenge or in order to prove they are ‘really something special’ and have been ‘underrated’ by everybody.
Dr Persaud said Trump was a target because the former president is so visible.
Dr Persaud said: ‘I think Trump is more easily a target… because to these inadequate men Trump is more aggravating and appears to have everything they hanker after.
‘[Trump] is supposedly a billionaire and has a super-model wife yet he had his own TV series and he flies around in a private jet.
‘He is living the dream as far as they are concerned… he is living their dream.’
These individuals also tend to be lone wolf actors, said Dr Persaud, rather than to be acting in a group — which are much harder to protect against.
Dr Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist in New York City, pointed to Mr Routh’s frequent run-ins with the law — including a hit-and-run and charge for possession of a machine gun dating back to 2002 — as a sign that he may have had an antisocial personality disorder, a condition where patients have a consistent disregard for the rights of others.
There are also signs of delusions of grandeur from Routh’s stint in Ukraine, where he says he was based for five months.
While there, he attempted to join a foreign legion and, when he was rejected, set out to recruit fighters himself. This led other fighters to view him as deluded as to his importance.
Evelyn Aschenbrenner, an American citizen serving in the legion, told CNN: ‘He seemed to have this delusion of grandeur thing. I’m like, “all you’re doing is causing headaches for everybody… the legion already has a recruiting website, there’s no need for you to be doing this”.’
Would-be assassin Ryan Routh is pictured above in the main square in Kyiv, Ukraine. The square was beamed around the world at the start of the war in 2022
Another fighter in Ukraine told the New York Post: ‘[Routh was] a crazy idiot, but no one’s really surprised.
‘People like that show up and are desperate to help and be important, and he was just one of those — just on the crazier end of things.’
There are also signs of delusions of grandeur in his decision to publish his own 291-page book titled ‘Ukraine’s Unwinnable War,’ which sold for $2.99 online.
The Economist reports the text, from 2023, is something between a diary and a political treatise.
Routh even compares himself at one point to George Orwell.
It is not clear whether Mr Routh was ever diagnosed with psychiatric or personality disorders.
The truck parked at Mr Routh’s home had a ‘Biden/Harris’ bumper sticker on it. Psychologists say it is likely the attack had little to do with politics
Routh is 58 years old and is now being held in police custody
Routh’s political views are riddled with contradictions, including his support of the Ukraine war and of Vivek Ramaswamy — who is against supporting the country.
He has also previously written online about how he was a Trump voter but then switched to the democratic party. In later posts online, he described a strong dislike for Biden.
Dr Persuad said: ‘People always look for political affiliations, but the research has shown over and over again that these people are not politically motivated.
‘These are not hard-core Republicans or Democrats , these are people not driven by politics but by personality problems and resentment against society at large.’
West Palm Beach Sheriff Sheriff Ric Bradshaw holds up an image of Routh’s backpack, bag, GoPro and AK-47 style rile left outside Trump International Golf Club on Sunday when he fled the scene as the Secret Service opened fire
The gunman was positioned two holes ahead of where Trump was golfing on Sunday when Secret Service shots were fired in his direction. The hole is the area of the course closest to the road and present the most ‘vulnerabilities,’ according to those familiar
Psychotherapists also came forward following the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania in July to again say the move likely had little to do with politics.
Dr Rachel Toles, a licensed clinical psychologist based in California, said people in these scenarios often have an extremely damaged ego, and have a desire to take out someone who has what they most covet — which could be success or popularity.
It’s possible, she said, that Trump represented something to his attacker, Thomas Matthew Crooks, that he deeply desired.
Dr Toles told DailyMail.com: ‘We’re talking about somebody who feels incredibly invisible, and he’s targeting the most visible man on the plant.
‘I do think it’s more about that, than it is about political Donald Trump.’
Crooks had no criminal record, unlike Routh, and virtually no online footprint — lacking popular social media sites like TikTok and Instagram.
Classmates and school officials often characterized him as quiet, according to reports, with some saying he was often bullied because of his body odor and for wearing camouflage hunting outfits and surgical masks to school.
