Trump says he "wasn't making it that easy" for Secret Service during shooting
In a Nutshell
Trump recounts that during the shooting at his rally, Secret Service agents evacuated him in about 20 seconds amid chaos, but he delayed them by insisting on seeing what was happening, saying "Wait a minute" and resisting initially. He stood tall and turned around while walking out, only dropping to the floor halfway after agents urged him repeatedly, with the First Lady complying alongside. His actions, surrounded by people, slowed the response slightly as agents grabbed and flanked him protectively.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Security moved quickly within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him up, and bringing him out. Counter assault team flanked in 10 seconds. Took 20 seconds to get Trump out. Scene looked chaotic. At one point, Trump was down.
What happened is it was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening and I wasn't making it that easy for him. I wanted to see what was going on.
By that time, they realized it was a bad problem, different than normal noise from a ballroom. Trump was surrounded by great people and probably made them act a little slower. He said, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me see. Wait a minute."
Just at the moment where it looks like he goes down with the service, he was telling them to wait. Then he started walking with them, turned, and they said please go down on the floor. Trump went down and first lady went down too, as asked by agents while he was walking.
Agents wanted him almost to crawl, but he was standing up pretty much, turned around the opposite direction, and started walking out pretty tall, a little bent over—not looking to be standing too tall. About halfway there, they said, "Please go down to the floor. Please go down to the floor." So he dropped to the floor. First lady did too.
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