Trump says he ‘shouldn’t have left’ White House, wouldn’t mind if reporters are shot
At rambling election rally two days before vote, ex-president tells supporters: ‘To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don’t mind that so much’
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden, and said he wouldn’t mind if someone shot reporters at the campaign event.
In a meandering 90-minute rally speech two days before Tuesday’s US presidential election, Trump attacked the news media at length, at one point gesturing to TV cameras and saying, “ABC, it’s ABC, fake news, CBS, ABC, NBC. These are, these are, in my opinion, in my opinion, these are seriously corrupt people.”
The former US president noted that there were gaps in the ballistic glass around him. Some of the members of the press following Trump at the event in Lititz had a sight line through one of the gaps.
Trump has escaped two attempted assassinations this year, including being grazed in the ear by a gunman’s bullet during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after which he has been spoken behind bulletproof glass at campaign events.
Surveying the gaps, Trump said: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don’t mind that so much.”
After the comment, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung issued a statement saying Trump was looking out for the media’s safety: “The president’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the media being harmed, or anything else. It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats,” the statement said.
It was the second time in recent days that Trump talked about guns being pointed at people he considers enemies. On Thursday, he said the hawkish former Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic, wouldn’t support foreign wars if she had “nine barrels shooting at her.”
At another point in his speech on Sunday, Trump said the US border was “the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left” office.
“I shouldn’t have left, I mean, honestly,” said Trump.
He also repeated debunked claims that voting machines had been hacked to benefit Democrats.
“It’s a crooked country,” he said. “And we’re going to make it straight. We’re going to make it straight.”
Some of Trump’s allies — notably, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon — have encouraged him to prematurely declare victory on Tuesday, even if the race is too early to call.
That’s what Trump did four years ago, kicking off a process of fighting the election results that culminated in the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
