Trump tells ABC News assassination attempt ‘has an impact,’ Biden ‘couldn’t have been nicer’
Written by ABC AUDIO on July 16, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump said the assassination attempt on his life over the weekend has left an impact.
In a phone call with ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl on Monday as the Republican National Convention kicked off, Karl asked the former president if the close call with the bullet striking his right ear “changed him?”
“I don’t like to think about that, but, yes,” Trump said, adding that the incident “has an impact.”
In the hours that followed the assassination attempt at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally, President Joe Biden reached out to his political opponent. Asked about their phone call, Trump described the conversation as “very nice,” adding of the man he’s vying against for the presidency, “He couldn’t have been nicer.”
During an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday, President Biden was also asked about his phone call with Trump after this past weekend’s shooting, which he described as a “very cordial” conversation.
“I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was actually doing. He sounded good. He said he was fine. And he thanked me for calling him. I told him he was literally in the prayers of Jill and me, and I hoped his whole family was weathering this,” Biden said.
While speaking with ABC News’ Karl, Trump marveled at the people he said called him in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, including prominent individuals who have been critical of him in the past.
Trump also said his right ear is doing fine and that he hopes the bandage will be off by the time he speaks on Thursday at the RNC.
While speaking with Karl, Trump also addressed choosing Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
“I get along with him great,” Trump said of his VP pick.
He acknowledged that Vance had said some negative things about him, but “once he got to know me, he was all in.”
Asked how he plans to use Vance in the campaign, Trump said, “I’m going to leave him in Pennsylvania.”
Then, Trump said, he would send him to Wisconsin and “a lot of other places where people are hurting.”
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