A gunman’s attack on the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner prompted President Donald Trump to sit down with CBS News correspondent Norah O’Donnell on “60 Minutes” the following day to discuss the incident.
Trump called for the dinner to be rescheduled within 30 days, with enhanced security measures. The interview, however, grew tense when O’Donnell raised the contents of the suspect’s alleged manifesto.
Trump became visibly annoyed and called O’Donnell a “disgrace.”
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a part-time teacher and video game developer from Torrance, California, sent an email to family members shortly before the attack. In the writings, which officials described as a “manifesto,” he stated he planned to target Trump administration officials, “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.”
When O’Donnell asked Trump whether he believed he had been the target, Trump replied: “I don’t know. It sounded — to me. I read a manifesto, which is — he’s radicalized. He was a Christian believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lotta change. He’s been [going] through a lot, based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him, and I think [he] reported him to the police. And his sister, likewise, complained about him. His family was very concerned. He was probably a pretty sick guy.”
O’Donnell then read a portion of the alleged manifesto aloud, including the line: “I am no longer willing to permit [an abuser] and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” CBS News notes that the manifesto did not mention Trump by name.
Trump reacted sharply to O’Donnell’s reading of the excerpt. He told her: “Well, 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 [an assaulter].”
O’Donnell then asked Trump whether he believed the suspect was referring to him. Trump replied: “I’m [have not committed crimes agisnt children]. Excuse me. Excuse me. (…) You read that [expletive] from some sick person? I got associated with all [the] stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones [who] were involved with, let’s 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.”
O’Donnell emphasized that the words were the gunman’s, not her own, but Trump continued to call her “disgraceful,” telling her: “You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.”