A post on X has falsely claimed that Democratic New York Rep. Dan Goldman called for former President Donald Trump to be “eliminated” following a September 2024 assassination attempt.

🚨 WOW: Not even 24 hours after President Trump was almost killed and Democrat Dan Goldman is now saying that Trump “is destructive to our democracy” and needs to be “eliminated.”

Shame on Goldman for inciting violence and pushing dangerous rhetoric.pic.twitter.com/fzjaKAm9Jc

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) September 16, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

Goldman’s controversial remarks were made in November 2023, predating any assassination attempt.

Fact Check:

Federal prosecutors have added charges against Ryan Routh, the suspect in the second assassination attempt against the former president, including “attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer,” according to ABC News. At the same time, Routh’s son, Oran, was arrested in North Carolina on charges of receiving and possessing child sex abuse images, NBC News reported.

The viral posts appear to show, shortly after this event, Goldman calling for Trump “to be eliminated,” suggesting that the congressman was inciting violence. “He is not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy and he has to be eliminated,” the representative said.

The claim is misleading and taken out of context. Goldman’s comments were made during a Nov. 19, 2023, interview with former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC. In this interview, Goldman stated that Trump was “destructive to our democracy” and “has to be eliminated” in the context of Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his role in the January 6 Capitol riots.

Goldman issued a public apology on X  the following day, acknowledging that his words were poorly chosen and clarifying that he did not mean to incite violence. “While he must be defeated, I certainly wish no harm to him and do not condone political violence,” Goldman wrote.

Yesterday on TV, I mistakenly used the wrong word to express the importance for America that Donald Trump doesn’t become President again.

While he must be defeated, I certainly wish no harm to him and do not condone political violence.

I apologize for the poor choice of words.

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) November 20, 2023

Following the second assassination attempt against Trump, Goldman again denounced the use of political violence. (RELATED: No Evidence That Image Shows Instagram Bio Of Man Who Attempted Trump Assassination)

I am outraged that there appears to have been another assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life.

Whatever our political differences, they must never lead to violence.

This must stop.

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) September 15, 2024

The Reuters Fact Check team  first reported on the social media. The original video of Goldman’s comments resurfaced following the 2024 assassination attempt but was unrelated to the incident.