President Donald Trump offered a curious compliment to his would-be assassin, implying he would make a great professional football player.
Trump, 79, appeared on CBS News’ flagship program the day after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner erupted into chaos when shots were fired outside the Washington Hilton ballroom.
The alleged gunman, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, sprinted past security magnetometers carrying two firearms and knives before authorities apprehended him and brought him into custody.
Speaking with 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell, the president noted the speed with which Allen surpassed the security checkpoint, saying, “he was like a blur.”
“His speed was rather incredible, actually... You know, he ran 45 yards, they say, and he just went to it, and then boom, he popped through it. I mean, he ran like—I think the NFL should sign him up," Trump said jokingly. “He was fast.”
“When you look at it on tape, it’s almost like a blur,” he added. “But it was amazing ‘cause as soon as they saw that you could see them draw their guns. They were so professional. Aimed their guns, and then they took him down immediately.”
The Denver Broncos selected Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock as “Mr. Irrelevant,” or the final pick in this year’s NFL Draft, about two hours before shots were fired at the Washington Hilton.
Allen won’t be eligible for the league anytime soon, as he is set to be arraigned in federal court on Monday on preliminary charges of assaulting a federal officer using a dangerous weapon and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Allen will likely face additional charges.
Allen, a teacher and tutor from Torrance, California, referred to himself as “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen” in a manifesto where he detailed his plan to kill top administration officials, minus FBI Director Kash Patel.
Patel, who was at the event as a guest of the Daily Mail, was spotted wandering around aimlessly amid the chaos.
Earlier in the 60 Minutes interview, Trump said that it was his fault he wasn’t evacuated as quickly as his vice president, JD Vance, who was ushered off the stage almost immediately by Secret Service officials.
“You see the security moving quickly, within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him up, bringing him out,” O’Donnell said to the president. “Then, the counterassault comes in, took 10 seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic. At one point, you were down. What was happening?”
“Well, what happened is, it was a little bit me,” Trump explained. “I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, a different kind of problem, a bad one.”
