Rachel Vindman, the wife of former Donald Trump impeachment witness Alexander Vindman, deleted her controversial Sunday tweet in which she laughed off the second assassination attempt on the former president’s life.
Before the deletion, Vindman made additional belligerent posts on X, including one calling the assassination attempt “Trump’s fake bullshit” and telling people upset at her initial joke, “I don’t care.”
“No ears were harmed. Carry on with your Sunday afternoon,” Rachel Vindman posted on X in the now-deleted tweet made within minutes of news breaking of the assassination attempt.
Vindman initially justifying the tweet before deleting it Monday and offering her statement.
I have deleted my tweet,” she posted on X Monday morning “It was flippant & political violence is a serious issue. Whether it’s aimed at a former president, the media, immigrants, or political ‘enemies’ & every incident should be addressed appropriately if we want to change the tenor of our political discourse.”
In subtweets, she professed to be the victim of political threats herself. “I have sat awake many nights wondering who might be outside,” she said. “I have known the instant fear of receiving an unknown package or letter. I have had my child ask me if we were safe and if someone was going to hurt our family.”
She continued, “With social media it’s easy to say the wrong thing and then walk away, but if words matter for some they should matter for all. I don’t always get it right the first time. I’m grateful to all who have supported us throughout the past five years.”
Vindman’s brother-in-law, Democrat Eugene Vindman, is running for a tightly contested open House seat against Republican Derrick Anderson in Virginia. Additionally, polling shows Virginia may be in play for Trump.
Eugene Vindman has failed to condemn his sister-in-law’s statement despite calls by Anderson and others to do so. He tweeted a boilerplate rebuke of political violence that did not mention Trump by name Sunday after the assassination attempt.
Before her change of heart, Rachel Vindman doubled down on her controversial post. In a now-deleted reply to a user upset by her rhetoric, Vindman said, “sorry you’re triggered. I mean no I’m not. I don’t care a little bit.”
Vindman has not removed multiple retweets made after the second assassination attempt attacking Trump, seeming to blame him for instigating hatred toward Haitian migrants.
Most notably, she has not removed her retweet of a post referring to the assassination attempt as “Trump’s fake bullshit.”
That retweet suggests that while Vindman didn’t “get it right the first time,” her retroactive efforts to get it right have also fallen short — and might even be insincere.
Editor’s Note: This story initially stated that Vindman “apologized” for her joke about people trying to murder her political opponent. The headline and copy has been updated to clarify that she has made no such apology.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
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