Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 2, 2024. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski / AFP)
As the United States prepares to elect a new leader, Donald Trump’s campaign team has defended the Republican candidate after he said he “would not mind if someone had to shoot through the fake news” to reach him.
Americans will head to the polls on Tuesday to either elect the country’s first woman president or bring a former leader back to the White House.
Polls show Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Trump running neck and neck, both nationally and in most swing states.
Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, while complaining about the bulletproof glass around him, Trump took a swipe at the media.
“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 at the glass around his lectern.
“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.”
Earlier at the event, he said: “The media is so damn bad – it’s unbelievable”.
ALSO READ: Voting behaviour shift makes US election less predictable
Facing criticism for suggesting violence against the media, Trump’s campaign later played down his comments.
“The President’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Instead, he claimed that Trump was suggesting that reporters were in “great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield, also. There can be no other interpretation of what was said. He was actually looking out for their welfare, far more than his own!” ABC News reported.
Trump also revived falsehoods about elections and argued that he can only lose to Harris if he is cheated, even though polls suggest a very tight race.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa wishes Trump ‘speedy recovery’ after assassination attempt
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
