Trump reveals he spoke with Secret Service Director Cheatle, wants to know how would-be assassin got on roof
Former President Trump and his 2024 running mate JD Vance sat down for their first joint interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday following the assassination attempt on the GOP nominee’s life at a rally in Butler, Pa., last week.
Trump told "Jesse Watters Primetime" embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle came to see him in the days following the assassination attempt.
"It went very nicely. She was very nice, I thought. But, you know, somebody should have made sure there was nobody on that roof," he said.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired several shots at the former president from the rooftop of a building roughly 130 yards away.
Investigators are piecing together how the 20-year-old local resident was able to gain a clear line of sight at Trump. Eyewitness Michael Difrischia filmed Crooks lying down on top of the American Glass Research building, looking down the sights of an AR-style rifle.
"I saw a younger kid running through the crowd and somebody had spoke[n] up [and] said the guy had a gun," Difrischia told "The Ingraham Angle" last week.
WHO WAS THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS? WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRUMP'S ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN
"The problem was the police officers were too close to the building. They could not see him," he added. "We were trying to tell them he’s right there, he’s right there, but they just couldn’t see him."
Other eyewitnesses said they tried to warn police officers of a shooter before he fired the shots that grazed Trump’s ear, killed former Pennsylvania fire chief Corey Comperatore and injured David Dutch and James Copenhaven.
Trump told Watters he was surprised at how close Crooks was able to get.
"They said it's really, it's a -- a bad shot would usually hit the target. And so I