On Sunday, President Donald Trump reckoned with the string of assassination attempts he has faced this term.
During an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Trump said he had read a manifesto written by the gunman who entered the annual press dinner in Washington, DC, on Saturday and was quickly subdued
“He’s radicalized. He was a Christian — a believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lotta change,” Trump said.
The president pushed back when “60 Minutes” host Norah O’Donnell read a line from the manifesto that called Trump a pedophile and a rapist, among other accusations.
“I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all — stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated,” Trump said.
He added that he wasn’t involved with “Epstein or other things” — referring to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump said he thought part of the reason he was facing threats stems from anti-Trump rhetoric and demonstrations like the “No Kings” protests, a series of rallies across the country.
“The reason you have people like that is you have people doing No Kings. I’m not a king. What I am — if I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you,” he told O’Donnell.
Read more about the press dinner shooting
He said political violence has gone back hundreds of years, echoing comments from his Saturday night press conference that all countries face violence.
“People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt. And I’m not sure that it’s any more now than there was,” Trump said on “60 Minutes.”
In his press conference on Saturday night, Trump said being a president is “a dangerous profession” and that facing the threat of political violence is “part of the job.”
At 8:36 p.m. on Saturday night, shots were fired outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was underway. It marked the third time in three years that President Donald Trump faced the threat of assassination.
Authorities have not yet publicly identified the suspect. However, photos of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter posted online by Trump on Saturday night matched a LinkedIn profile belonging to Cole Allen.
Multiple outlets, including the Associated Press, have also reported that Allen is the suspect in custody.
Allen, 31, is listed as a resident of Torrance, California. Police conducted an overnight raid at an address in the state linked to Allen in an online database.
His LinkedIn describes him as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.”
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday in several TV news interviews that the shooter left a manifesto, in which he said he intended to target Trump administration officials.
“We know that there were some writings, and we’ve already spoken with several witnesses who knew him,” he said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Blanche said the suspect traveled from Los Angeles to Washington by train and checked into the hotel where the event was held with two guns and a plan.
Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the defendant has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of assault on a law enforcement officer using a dangerous weapon. He will be arraigned on Monday.
