LITITZ, PA — Former President Donald Trump said on Sunday he wouldn’t mind if members of the press were shot ramping up his threatening and violent rhetoric with less than 48 hours until Election Day.
Speaking at a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Trump made the comment as he was complaining that the protective glass around him was “ridiculous.”
“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 said, pointing to the glass positioned between him and the area where the press was located. “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.”
Trump repeatedly mocked media and reporters at the rally and joked a shooting could break out “any minute now.”
“They’re my glass. See? Those people are my glass,” he said, pointing in the direction of the media.
Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump, saying in a statement, “Obviously he was joking.”
Leavitt continued her statement, saying Trump’s rallies “are focused on the issues that Americans care about” but yet he has recently aired his personal grievances and rambled for over three hours.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung also defended the comment, saying the former president said “nothing to do with the Media being harmed.”
Cheung also lied and said Trump was suggesting “that the Media was in danger” and that they “should have had a glass protective shield, also.”
However, transcript from the event and audio both show that the former president’s tone was actually encouraging violence against journalists and members of the press.
Trump’s comments come less than 48 hours until Election Day as his violent rhetoric has escalated in recent days.
