Donald Trump criticized a CBS News presenter less than 24 hours after an alleged assassination attempt targeted him and other senior figures, after the host read aloud lines from the suspect’s manifesto.
The president was escorted out of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night following the incident. It marked his first appearance at the high-profile event in more than a decade, after previously avoiding the annual gathering.
After the disruption, authorities reportedly recovered a manifesto connected to the suspect. Officials said no one was harmed, and alleged would-be assassin Cole Tomas Allan — a 31-year-old teacher from California — was detained by law enforcement before he could reach the ballroom or the president.
In the aftermath of what was described as the third major attempt on his life, President Trump sat down on Sunday night with Norah O’Donnell for CBS’ “60 Minutes” to discuss what happened. During the interview, the anchor referenced the manifesto, including a passage that described him as a “paedophile, rapist, and traitor,” and asked for his response.
“Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” Trump responded, with his fury building. “Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell then followed up with another question.
“Do you think he was referring to you?”
The exchange appeared to further aggravate the president, who pushed back forcefully while accusing the network of amplifying allegations he said were baseless.
“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. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things.