Trump Campaign Defends ‘Shoot Through the Fake News’ Remark

Donald Trump’s campaign organization has issued a defense of the Republican presidential candidate after he stated he would not object if someone had to “shoot through the fake news” to reach him. Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, while expressing dissatisfaction with the bulletproof glass surrounding him, he declared: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news – and I don’t mind that so much”. He additionally labeled the media “bloodsuckers”. Criticism of the media by Trump is not a recent development. For nearly a decade since his entry into the political arena, Trump has occasionally ridiculed reporters at his rallies. “I have a piece of glass over here, and I don’t have a piece of glass there. And I have this piece of glass here, but all we have really over here is the fake news,” Trump remarked on Sunday, indicating the glass barrier around his speaking platform. “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.” Following an assassination attempt targeting Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in July, the US Secret Service has implemented bulletproof glass protection for the former president 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 former president had previously voiced objections to these enhanced security protocols, but Sunday’s rally represented the initial instance where he linked the security arrangements to his criticism of the media. Prior to these remarks at the event, he stated: “The media is so damn bad – it’s unbelievable”. He singled out particular news organizations for criticism. “ABC, ABC, fake news, CBS, ABC, NBC,” he said. “These are, these are, in my opinion, in my opinion, these are seriously corrupt people.” Subsequent to the rally, a campaign spokesman for Kamala Harris sought to emphasize the distinction between the two presidential rivals – noting that the Democratic candidate had been “talking about faith in church and doing good for our neighbours” concurrently with Trump’s statements. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung subsequently offered a defense of the remarks, asserting they pertained to threats directed at Trump. “The president’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the media being harmed, or anything else,” Cheung stated. “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 his initial presidential campaign in 2016, Trump has consistently voiced criticism of the media – referring to them as “dishonest,” “not good people,” and “scum”. During the 2024 campaign, he has faced accusations of employing divisive language toward his adversaries more broadly. Opposing Democrats have criticized his rally speeches for denouncing “the enemy from within” – which Trump has clarified refers to “radical left lunatics” and “a couple of Democratic lawmakers.”