Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter for quoting the manifesto of the suspected gunman who opened fire on the White House press dinner Saturday.
The president called CBS News journalist Norah O’Donnell “disgraceful” for reading out segments of the text during a 60 Minutes interview Sunday.
The document, allegedly sent to family members of 31-year-old suspect Cole Tomas Allen before the attack, read that “I’m no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes”.
Presented with the manifesto as evidence of a possible motive, Trump quickly hit back at O’Donnell, saying: “I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
Pressed by O’Donnell on whether the president thought the manifesto was referring to him, Trump hit back: “I’m not a pedophile.
“Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile. You read that c*** from some sick person? I got associated with stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.
“I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
“You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes. You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview,” he said, adding: “You’re disgraceful.”
The president has faced ongoing scrutiny over the release of the Epstein files, which uncovered FBI interviews with a woman who alleged Trump assaulted her as a teenager.
But Trump has vehemently denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime in connection with the late pedophile financier.
The president and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the event after an attacker fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent nearby, creating scenes of panic. One law enforcement officer was injured in the attack. Allen, of Torrance, CA, was arrested at the scene and is set to be arraigned Monday.
Trump has said he believes he was likely the target of Saturday’s attack at the Washington Hilton, where the annual Correspondents’ Association dinner was being held.
The president said the suspect had published what he called an “anti-Christian” manifesto before the attack. In the manifesto, the author calls himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and said he planned to attack Trump administration officials, prioritizing them from highest-ranking to lowest, but excluding FBI Director Kash Patel, a law enforcement official told Reuters.
He also cited Christian theology as he said he was trying to protect those harmed by the administration's policies.
The manifesto also mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton.
“Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” the manifesto's author reportedly wrote. “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”
The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top U.S. officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel's expansive ballroom.
Trump seized on the attention brought by the incident to promote his planned White House ballroom as a safer venue for such events.
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