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Nearly one year after he narrowly survived an attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, President Trump reflected on the tragic day during an exclusive interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.
“Well, it was unforgettable,” the president told Lara Trump for the interview set to air on Fox News’ “My View” Saturday night. “I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I got whacked. There’s no question about that. And fortunately, I got down quickly. People were screaming, and I got down quickly, fortunately, because I think they shot eight bullets.”
During the infamous rally, President Trump began discussing the topic of illegal immigration right before shots were fired from a nearby rooftop.
The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight shots at the president, one of which hit his ear. Two of the audience members were critically injured, while Corey Comperatore was killed tragically while shielding his family.
“One got me, and one got another one, and one got another one, and one killed Corey, the firefighter—great guy,” Trump explained. “Tens of thousands of people were there, and our sniper, within less than five seconds, was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn’t do that, you would have had an even worse situation.”
He further praised the Secret Service counter sniper, whose “name is David,” who “did a fantastic job” killing the gunman who was perched on a rooftop.
“He just, he went about his business,” President Trump argued. “Less than just about four seconds, and that’s when it all stopped and he got him perfectly from a very long distance. So we got a little bit lucky in that regard.”
The U.S. Secret Service announced Wednesday that six officials, including some in the president’s protective detail, have been punished and suspended for their failures that led to the assassination attempt, the New York Post reported.
However, President Trump noted that he was “satisfied” with the briefings he has since received following the shooting.
“[Officials] should have had somebody in the building [where Crooks shot from], that was a mistake,” he argued. “They should have had communications with the local police, they weren’t tied in, and they should have been tied in. So there were mistakes made, but I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot, the larger plot, I was satisfied.”
He continued, “And I have great confidence in these people. I know the people. And they’re very talented, very capable. But they had a bad day. And I think they’ll admit that. They had a rough day.”
According to the New York Post, none of the agents shielding the president after he was shot on stage were suspended, though the personnel who are under scrutiny have not been publicly named.
In the days after the shooting, then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her post amid bipartisan calls. President Trump has since replaced her with Sean Curran, who led his protective detail and was on stage when he was shot.