Former President Trump and his 2024 running mate JD Vance sat down for their first joint interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday following the assassination attempt on the GOP nominee’s life at a rally in Butler, Pa., last week.
Trump told “Jesse Watters Primetime” embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle came to see him in the days following the assassination attempt.
“It went very nicely. She was very nice, I thought. But, you know, somebody should have made sure there was nobody on that roof,” he said.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several shots at the former president from the rooftop of a building roughly 130 yards away.
Investigators are piecing together how the 20-year-old local resident was able to gain a clear line of sight at Trump. Eyewitness Michael Difrischia filmed Crooks lying down on top of the American Glass Research building, looking down the sights of an AR-style rifle.
Other eyewitnesses said they tried to warn police officers of a shooter before he fired the shots that grazed Trump’s ear, killed former Pennsylvania fire chief Corey Comperatore and injured David Dutch and James Copenhaven.
Trump told Watters he was surprised at how close Crooks was able to get.
Cheatle appeared on Capitol Hill Monday to answer for the security failures that almost led to the assassination of a former president.
She acknowledged the attempt on Trump’s life was the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades.
Trump praised the actions of his Secret Service agents, who rushed to cover him after shots rang out at his rally.
He told Watters his ear is healing and getting better. “We’re getting down to the small bandages. But it was a nasty one. And it was nasty, period. That was exactly one week ago from today, exactly. And, you know, when you think about it, it’s — that’s been a lot of territory covered,” he said.
Overall, the interview shed light on the security lapses that allowed the attempted assassination of the former president and raised questions about the effectiveness of the Secret Service in protecting high-profile individuals.
