Trump talks about reporters being shot and says he shouldn’t have left White House after 2020 loss
LITITZ, Pa. — LITITZ, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump delivered a profane and conspiracy-laden speech two days before Tuesday presidential electionsabout reporters being shot and suggesting he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after his 2020 loss to the Democrat Joe Biden.
In remarks Sunday that bore little resemblance to the speech he gave at his recent rallies, the former president repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of the vote and resurfaced old grievances after trying reverse his 2020 election defeat. Trump intensified his verbal attacks on what he described as a “demonic” Democratic Party and the US media, at one point steering his rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on the topic of violence against members of the press.
He noted the ballistic glass that is used to protect him at outdoor events after a shooter assassination attempt in July and pointed out gaps between the panels.
“I have a piece of glass here,” he said. “But all we have here is fake news. And to get me, someone would have to go through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much.”
It was the second time in recent days that Trump has spoken about pointing guns at people he considers enemies. He suggested former Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic, would be unwilling to support foreign wars if she had “nine barrels shooting at her.”
Trump’s campaign was criticized for suggesting violence against the media and later downplayed his comments.
“The president’s statement about the installation of protective glass has nothing to do with harm to the media or anything else,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. Instead, he claimed that Trump was suggesting that reporters “were in grave danger themselves and should also have had a protective glass shield.” There can be no other interpretation of what was said. He actually cared for their well-being, much more than his own!”
Trump has also revived falsehoods about the election, arguing that he can only lose to Democrat Kamala Harris if he is cheated, even as polls show a very tight race.
“It’s a crooked country,” Trump shouted to his crowd on a cold airport tarmac, returning to the rancor that had defined the early days of his campaign. ‘They’re going to want to put you in jail because you want to make things right. Think about it, think about it. They cheat in elections and if you call them out on it, they want to put you in jail.’
Trump was indicted for his efforts to overturn the elections in both Washington and Georgia
Some of his allies, most notably former chief strategist Steve Bannon, have encouraged Trump to prematurely declare victory Tuesday night after polls closed, even though the race is still too early to call. That is what Trump did four years ago, the beginning of months of denial and lies that culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
For much of this year, Trump has waged a relatively disciplined campaign, focusing on the issues his aides believe could give him victory even as he clung to false theories about voter fraud and frequently went on a tangent. which caused controversy. But that discipline is increasingly collapsing.
Trump in recent weeks has joked about it genitals of golfer Arnold Palmer, continued to use gendered or sexist language in his efforts to win over women and organized a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York with speakers that made the cut rude and racist insults that continue to dominate the headlines.
Still, Trump had delivered a fairly consistent stump speech most days, aided by a series of videos that kept him on script even as he switched from topic to topic in a discursive style that he has called ‘the fabric’. But outside Lancaster airport, he completely abandoned his planned remarks, skipping his usual points on the economy, immigration and routine criticism of Harris.
Trump’s comments in Pennsylvania were unplanned, according to a person familiar with them, who noted that Trump is known to ad-lib. While it was unclear what exactly Trump had set in motion, his campaign had released a memo earlier in the day criticizing new polling from The New York Times that again showed the race extremely close in the seven major swing states.
Before taking the stage, Trump had spoken by phone with two reporters who discussed polls, including one who asked him if he thought he might lose somehow.
As he spoke, Trump’s co-campaign manager Susie Wiles, who has long been credited with bringing order to his often chaotic political operation, emerged to silently look at the former president from near the podium.
Trump is frustrated that the campaign remains locked in a fight until the end. He thinks Harris is an unworthy opponent and can’t understand why he isn’t dominating, said a Republican familiar with the dynamics of the campaign who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss it.
Another Republican blamed last-minute concerns — and that Trump had to rely on a system he thinks is rigged against him.
Some Trump allies cheered his speech, saying they were glad he shined light on concerns about fraud in the final stretch of the race.
Harris pushed back on Trump’s characterization of the US election, telling reporters on Sunday that Trump’s comments “are intended to distract from the fact that we have and support free and fair elections in our country.” Those “good systems” were in place in 2020, Harris said, and “he lost.”
The vice president said she is confident in the upcoming vote count and urged voters, “particularly people who have not yet voted, not to fall for this tactic, which I think includes suggesting to people that if they vote, their vote doesn’t matter.”
Trump, in turn, acknowledged that his conspiratorial speech sidestepped his usual approach. He repeatedly talked about ignoring his aides’ advice, echoed their feedback in a mocking voice and insisted he had to talk about election fraud despite their objections.
Trump suggested at one point that he would not give this version of his speech again: “I hope you enjoyed this,” he said, “because I’m only doing this once.”
His next speech, a few hours later at an airport in Kinston, North Carolina, returned to his usual script, alternating between prepared remarks and familiar stories. Trump praised David McCormick, the businessman running for Senate in Pennsylvania, who appeared to lose track of his location for a moment but quickly recovered.
‘Where is David? Is he somewhere around?’ Trump said. “You know we just left him. He’s a great guy.”
Some rallygoers began leaving almost immediately. One of them was Whitney Riley, 60, who said she really wanted to stay but there was another event. She noted that Trump started late.
‘I saw him land. I had to see it open,” Riley said, wearing Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hat and an American flag scarf. “And that will have to be enough.”
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Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Darlene Superville in Detroit and Bill Barrow in Washington contributed to this report