Donald Trump’s campaign team has defended the Republican candidate for president after he told supporters: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news – and I don’t mind that so much”.
At a Pennsylvania rally on Sunday, Trump also called the media “bloodsuckers”.
The attacks on the media are not new. Since arriving on the political scene nearly a decade ago, Trump has sometimes mocked reporters at his rallies.
He made his comments while complaining about the bulletproof glass that now surrounds him at his outdoor rallies following an assassination attempt in July.
“I have a piece of glass over here, and I don’t have a piece of glass there,” Trump said at the rally. “And I have this piece of glass here, but all we have really over here is the fake news. And to get me somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much. I don’t mind that.”
Since the 13 July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the US Secret Service has positioned bulletproof glass around Trump at outdoor rallies.
An audience member was killed at that rally and a bullet grazed the former president’s ear. The Secret Service killed the gunman.
The president has previously complained about the new security measures, but Sunday’s rally marked the first time he connected the security measures with his attacks on the press.
Earlier at the event, he said: “The media is so damn bad – it’s unbelievable”.
He specifically criticised certain news outlets. “ABC, ABC, fake news, CBS, ABC, NBC,” he said. “These are, these are, in my opinion, in my opinion, these are seriously corrupt people.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung later defended the comments, saying they were about the threats made against him.
“The president’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the media being harmed, or anything else,” Cheung said.
“It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats. In fact, President Trump was stating that the media was in danger, in that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield.”
Since first running for president in 2016, Trump has repeatedly criticised the press – calling them “dishonest,” “not good people,” and “scum”.
During the 2024 campaign, he has been accused of divisive rhetoric against his opponents more generally. Rival Democrats have criticised him for railing at his rallies against “the enemy from within” – which Trump has said refers to “radical left lunatics” and a couple of Democratic lawmakers.
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