Donald Trump Takes Assassination Attempt in Stride: 'Only Consequential Presidents Get Shot At'

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of gun violence that some readers may find distressing.

In a classic display of bravado, former President Donald Trump made headlines again— this time at a town hall in Flint, Michigan. Trump began by addressing his second assassination attempt with a bold, eyebrow-raising remark: “Only consequential presidents get shot at.” Staying true to his character, he cited the threats against his life as proof of his political importance. Instead of expressing fear or concern, Trump used the opportunity to downplay the incident and remarked, “It’s a dangerous business being president…It’s a little bit dangerous…That’s okay…"

As per the New York Post, Trump added, “It’s, you know, they think race car driving is dangerous– no. They think bull riding...that is pretty scary, right? No, this is a dangerous business, and we have to keep it safe.” Throughout the town hall, Trump’s tone wavered between defiance and self-congratulation. He thanked President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for reaching out to check on him following the attack. He revealed, “President Biden called me yesterday. It was very nice. We had a very nice conversation. I appreciated that he called about, you know, what happened the other day.”

Trump’s reflection on the presidency’s dangers was only a part of a wide-ranging conversation that touched on familiar themes, from claims of election fraud in 2020 to the foreign policy failures of the Biden administration. He exclaimed, “We ran in 2016 and it was amazing. We won. We then ran in 2020, and we did much better than we did in 2016. People don’t like to hear, you know. [They say], ‘Oh, he’s a conspiracy theorist.’ We got millions and millions more votes. It wasn’t even a contest.” 

As per the Daily Beast, the GOP frontrunner also claimed that under his leadership, there would be no Israel-Hamas war and Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine. He continued, “We have other countries that are hostile to us, they don’t have to be hostile to us. I always say if you have a smart president, you will never have a problem with China, Russia, or any of them. But you essentially have five countries, and you are going to have more whether you like it or not, it’s the single biggest threat to the world. Not only Michigan. And you are not going to care so much about making cars if that starts happening.”

In his speech, the former president also praised the Secret Service for its swift response, acknowledging that they 'did a hell of a job.' However, he also argued for more personnel. He stressed, “Now, they do need more people. And they have been complaining about that for a long time. But they did a great job.”

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