In Donald Trump’s first interview After the alleged assassination attempt on him on Sunday, he blamed his political rivals for the incident, telling Fox News that the potential assassin “believed” and “acted on” the rhetoric of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“Their rhetoric is getting me shot at when I’m the one who’s going to save the country and they’re the ones destroying the country — both from within and without,” Trump told Fox. “They’re doing it with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits that they’re implicating me in. … Those are the things that dangerous idiots like the shooter listen to — that’s the rhetoric they listen to, and the same goes for the first one.”

Trump particularly blamed Biden and Harris for calling him a “threat to democracy” while portraying themselves as “unity leaders.” “They are the opposite,” he said, calling them “people who want to destroy our country.”

Trump continued to accuse his opponents of using “extremely inflammatory language.” “I can use it too – and much better than they can – but I don’t,” he added.

Critics quickly noticed The irony in Trump’s comments, given his history of extreme, inflammatory rhetoric. Last week, for example, Trump said that Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping and eating pets, reinforcing an unfounded rumor that led to Threats against local schools, hospitals and municipal buildings.

Although he called on Democrats to tone down their rhetoric, Trump himself showed his penchant for incitement, describing his political opponents as forces of evil: “These are people who want to destroy our country,” Trump told Fox. “It’s called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”

In a post On Truth Social on Monday morning, Trump wrote “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!!” and linked to a statement about the attack that said, “There are people in this world who will do anything to stop us.”