Donald Trump resumed campaigning Tuesday for the first time since the second apparent attempt on his life, declaring, “Only consequential presidents get shot at,” while expressing gratitude to Kamala Harris for reaching out to check on him.
Speaking at a town hall meeting before enthusiastic supporters in Flint, a once-thriving hub of the U.S. automotive industry now struggling with factory closures due to foreign competition, Trump connected the FBI’s recent foiled assassination attempt against him at his golf course in Florida to his promise of imposing heavy tariffs on car imports from Mexico and China.
“And then you wonder why I get shot at, right? You know, only consequential presidents get shot at,” Trump remarked.
Meanwhile, his election rival Harris, campaigning in another swing state, Pennsylvania, revealed that she had contacted the former president following the thwarted attack.
“I checked on him to see if he was okay. And I reiterated what I have said publicly — there’s no place for political violence in our country,” Harris stated in an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
The White House characterized the exchange as a “cordial and brief conversation.” Trump noted that Harris “could not have been nicer.”
He also claimed that the would-be assassin was influenced by what he termed President Joe Biden’s and Harris’s rhetoric, which he believes portrays him as a threat to U.S. democracy.
At the town hall, Trump supporters expressed that the foiled attack only strengthened their resolve to support him.
“I believe they want to kill Trump so he can’t make his second term happen,” said retired autoworker Donald Owen, 71.
