Fox News' Sean Hannity spoke to former President Trump after the second assassination attempt on Trump on Sunday and said the former president heard the “pop” of bullets being fired and that Secret Service agents shielded him with their bodies.
Hannity, who said he spoke to Trump privately three times on Sunday, said Trump was taken to a secure location immediately and that he was initially concerned about the safety of everyone else on the field.
After learning that no one was in danger, Hannity said, Trump thanked the Secret Service agents who protected his life and lamented his inability to complete a birdie putt.
Developer Steve Witkoff, a major donor who was golfing with Trump, said the former president “went up to all of them individually, thanked them, shook their hands and told them how much he appreciated them,” Hannity said on “Fox News Live.” [said]“I was tied. It was the fifth hole. I had a birdie putt. I really wanted to finish the hole.” Pretty typical Trump, if you ask me.”
Witkoff and Trump described “hearing pop, pop, pop, pop,” Hannity said, adding: “Within seconds, the Secret Service was on the president and covering him. There were snipers with tripods. They knew the direction the shots had been fired and they had their eyes on where they had been fired.”
“When [agents] He stood on top of the president, [they] immediately [moved him into] “What you call a fast car, which I believe has steel reinforcement,” Hannity said.
Hannity said he had been asked to join Trump for a round Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, but declined.
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. local time. A Secret Service agent who was surveying the area one or two holes ahead of Trump saw the barrel of an AK-47-type weapon pointed toward the tree line on the perimeter of the course, according to authorities.
The officers opened fire and the man fled, but not before a witness spotted him and took photos of his vehicle and license plate. Sheriff’s deputies used those images to quickly track down the suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, law enforcement sources told The Times. He was stopped on northbound Interstate 95 in Martin County, north of Palm Beach County. A motive has not yet been determined.
On July 13, the former president survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, although a bullet grazed his ear.
Hannity said he spoke to Trump's son, Eric, after Sunday's incident.
“One thing Eric Trump said to me was — and he choked up as he said it to me — ‘My father is running out of lives here. How many more rifles are going to be within killing distance of my father? ’ And he said it with great passion and love,” Hannity said.
Hannity lamented that a person with a gun was able to get so close to the former president again.
“It’s disheartening on one level. It’s sad on another level,” Hannity said. “And it’s terrifying on one level that, you know, someone with an AK-47 can be that close to the president or former president and leading presidential candidate, you know, just 50 days before an election.”
