Donald Trump mocked “little boy” JD Vance while discussing the chaos surrounding the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Speaking during a Police Week dinner at the White House Rose Garden on Monday, Trump praised the actions of the Secret Service and its chief, Sean Curran, for foiling the April 25 attack and protecting those at the Washington Hilton.
Trump also made light of how quickly security agents escorted the vice president out of the room after shots were fired, while the 79-year-old stumbled to the floor as he was being rushed offstage shortly afterward.
“I thought you did a great job two weeks ago. You know why? Because I’m here,” Trump said while thanking Curran. “We consider being here a success. No matter how well you do, they’re going to find fault. But I will be the one to find fault if I think there was fault.
“They had great professional people, and they came out, and within seconds, I saw them take JD by the shoulders and lift him up like he was a little boy,” Trump added.
“I said, ‘How come they didn’t lift me up so fast?’ JD got ripped out of the chair, that was the view of the week.”
Video of Vance, who is nearly 40 years younger than the president, being rushed out of the WHCD by the Secret Service while Trump was still in his seat went viral online shortly after the attack.
Mark Herrera, president and chief security strategist at Texas-based security and leadership training firm Global Awareness Professionals, said that security personnel getting Vance to safety quickly did not mean they prioritized the vice president over Trump.
“It typically means he was in a position to be safely and quickly extracted, while the president’s detail needed a few critical seconds to shield, assess the threat, and establish control before moving him,” Herrera told Newsweek. “In executive protection, the objective is to avoid a single point of failure—separating protectees ensures that one threat cannot impact both at the same time.”
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Trump gave a more bizarre reason why Vance was escorted out of the room before him.
“I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn’t making it that easy for them,” the 79-year-old said.
“And I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me see, wait a minute.’”
