President Donald Trump said, “I’m not a rapist,” in an interview with Norah O’Donnell on 60 Minutes. The remarks came less than 24 hours after a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The interview marked Trump’s first on-camera response to the Saturday evening incident at the Washington Hilton. Secret Service agents detained the suspected attacker, Cole Allen. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and other officials were rushed to a secure holding area.
During the interview, O’Donnell questioned Trump on several aspects of the attack. She then read a passage from what authorities described as Allen’s manifesto, which stated: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
Trump lashes out at anchor
Trump, who had remained composed earlier, reacted sharply. “I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” he said. “Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
When O’Donnell asked if the statement referred to him, Trump did not respond directly and said, “I’m not a pedophile.” He appeared to link the remarks to past scrutiny over his association with Jeffrey Epstein, although Epstein was not mentioned in the quoted text.
“You read that crap from some sick person,” Trump said. “I got associated with stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.”
O’Donnell noted that the manifesto did not name Trump. He dismissed her point and said, “You should be ashamed of yourself for reading that, because I’m not any of those things. You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes. You’re a disgrace, but let’s go ahead and finish the interview… you’re disgraceful.”
Federal prosecutors have charged Allen. He is expected to appear in federal court for arraignment.
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