Trump denies manifesto accusation after dinner shooting
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump stated that he is not a rapist, thereby categorically rejecting the claims contained in the manifesto of the shooter at the dinner, according to his interview with CBS News.
During the conversation, the host noted that in the so-called manifesto, the shooter may have been alluding to the contrary. Specifically, he wrote: "Administration officials, they are targets... I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes" (referring in fact to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein).
When asked by Trump what his reaction to this was, he said the following:
"Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you're-- you're he-- you're horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I'm-- I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody," Trump said.
When asked a follow‑up question whether the president thought the shooter was targeting him, the US leader continued his answer:
"I'm not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all-- stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, lets say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, "You know, I'll do this interview and they'll probably"-- 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," Trump said.
When the host, out of respect for the president, emphasized that those were the shooter's words, Trump hinted at ending the interview.
"You shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes. You're a disgrace. But go ahead. Let's finish the interview," the White House chief said.
Trump also said he does not know if he was the shooter's target, but noted that at least it seemed that way to him.
What preceded the incident
On the night of April 26, a dinner was held at the Washington Hilton Hotel with US President Donald Trump, other senior officials, and journalists from the White House press pool.
However, at some point, a man broke through the checkpoint. After several gunshots were heard, Trump and other senior US officials were urgently evacuated.
As it turned out, the shooter managed to wound one of the officers, but the officer's life was saved by a bulletproof vest, and the attacker was quickly detained. Later, the media reported that the shooter was identified as 31-year-old teacher Cole Allen from Torrance, California.
According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the shooter intended to assassinate US President Donald Trump and eliminate as many officials of his administration as possible.
