Contrary to online claims, Trump suspect is registered independent voter [Video]

Social media users are variously claiming the man accused of planning to assassinate Donald Trump in Florida is registered as a Republican or a Democratic voter, but public records indicate he is currently neither.

Numerous posts tying the alleged plot to political parties ricocheted across platforms after Ryan Wesley Routh was foiled Sunday when a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle protruding from bushes while the former US president was playing golf nearby.

Many claims centered on Routh, 58, saying in one 2020 post that Trump was his “choice” in 2016 but had disappointed him as president, adding: “I will be glad when you gone (sic).”

However, Patrick Gannon, public information director for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, told AFP that Routh requested an absentee ballot in 2016, but did not actually vote.

Data from North Carolina shows Routh — a self-employed builder now based in Hawaii with …