OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Sen. JD Vance sat down for a long-form interview with top podcaster Joe Rogan on Thursday, during which he relayed a never-before-told story of how he reacted to former President Donald Trump being shot and nearly killed during the first assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., in mid-July
Vance, who was interviewed by Rogan about a week after Trump’s very well received appearance that has garnered nearly 40 million views, told the host that initially, he thought the former president had been killed.
“When you first see the video, he grabs his ear, and then he goes down, and I’m like, ‘My God, they just killed him,’” the Ohio Republican said.
“And I was, so I mean, first I was so pissed. But then I go into like, fight or flight mode with my kids. I’m like, you know, alright kids, you know, we were at a — we were at a mini golf place in Cincinnati, Ohio, grabbed my kids up, throw them in the car, go home and load all my guns and basically stand like a sentry at our front door. And that was my that was sort of my reaction to it,” Vance continued.
WATCH:
WATCH: Vance explains that in the immediate aftermath of the Trump assassination attempt in Butler, PA, he loaded all his guns and stood watch at his front door, ready to defend himself and familypic.twitter.com/08iVRkDz7A
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) October 31, 2024
During a Chris Cuomo-hosted town hall on NewsNation on Thursday, the vice presidential nominee responded to a query from the top of the Republican ticket.
A scheduled phone call from Trump briefly interrupted the Ohio senator’s hour-long response to a variety of questions, adding a friendly tone to the town hall.
“We have a call right now from former President Donald John Trump,” Cuomo declared to an audience of undecided voters, many of whom clapped upon Trump’s introduction. “He wants to weigh in. Mr. President, I know there’s a little bit of a delay. Can you hear us, and what is your question?”
“Well, I can hear you, Chris, and I do have a question,” Trump said. “And I think it will be quite an interesting one. The answer should be easy. How brilliant is Donald J. Trump?”
After the audience broke out in laughter, Cuomo said to Vance: “Take your time, think about it.”
“Well, first of all, sir, this is supposed to be undecided voters. I would hope that I have your vote, of all people. But here’s– first of all, sir, of course, you’re very brilliant. And we both agree. We both agree that it’s important to have smart people running the government,” Vance said.
The Ohio senator then praised Trump’s “ability to relate to anybody in any environment,” stating that “that’s the true brilliance of Donald J. Trump.”
“That’s very nice, and I appreciate it,” Trump replied. “Maybe I’ll ask a second one. I watched, believe it or not, CNN last night. And in watching it, I watched the town hall with Kamala. Let me ask you for a second [unintelligible] and it was not good. How brilliant is Kamala?”
“That’s a very tough one, Sir,” he responded. “I’m supposed to say something–”
“Don’t say it,” Trump interrupted.
WATCH:
WATCH: JD Vance is currently doing a Town Hall hosted by Chris Cuomo, and Trump surprised them with a call to ask a question
Trump: “How brilliant is Donald Trump?” 😂
Vance: “This is supposed to be for undecided voters. I would hope that I have your vote, of all people.” 😂… pic.twitter.com/qvy5l0aWlX
— George (@BehizyTweets) October 25, 2024