former president Donald Trump damage control is being done after apparently advocating violence against journalists.
At a campaign rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Trump made comments suggesting he wouldn’t care if members of the press were killed.
Complaining about the lack of protective glass around him and how it left open the possibility of a sniper attack, Trump gestured to the press pen in front of him and referred to reporters as “my glass.” He then explained that someone would have to shoot through “fake news” to get to him.
Former US President Donald Trump stands behind bulletproof glass as Republican presidential candidate arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 2024.
Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images
“I’ve got this piece of glass here, but all we really have here is fake news. And to get me, somebody would have to throw out fake news. And I don’t care that much,” he said. event, two days before Election Day.
Trump joked that such a shooting could erupt “any moment now.”
“They are my glass. See? Those people are my glass,” he said pointing to the press.
Asked by ABC News about the remark, Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump, saying, “Obviously, he was joking.”
Leavitt called the question “tiring,” and accused the media of “picking apart every word Donald Trump says when most of his speeches are about issues Americans care about.”
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Lancaster Airport in Lititz, PA on November 03, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
In response to the comment, campaign spokesman Steven Cheung falsely claimed Trump had “nothing to do with harming the media.”
“There can be no other interpretation of what he said. He was actually looking out for their well-being, much more than his own,” Cheung said.
Cheung falsely claimed that Trump was actually “indicating that the media was at risk” and that they “must also have a glass shield of protection.”
However, in footage and official transcripts of the event, it is clear that Trump explicitly stated that he “wouldn’t care that much” if reporters were shot, and laughed as his supporters cheered his statement.
