Fox News’ Sean Hannity spoke with former President Trump in the aftermath of the second assassination attempt on his life on Sunday, saying the former president heard the “pop” of rounds being fired and that Secret Service agents shielded him with their bodies.
Hannity, who said he spoke with Trump privately three times Sunday, said Trump was whisked to safety immediately and initially concerned about everyone else on the course’s safety.
After he learned 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 hand, told them how much he appreciated them,” Hannity said on “FOX News Live.” “And then he [said] ‘I was even. It was the fifth hole. I had a birdie putt. I really wanted to finish the hole.’ So classic Trump, if you ask me.”
Witkoff and Trump described “that they heard pop, pop, pop, pop,” Hannity said. “… Within seconds, the Secret Service pounced on the president, covered him. You had snipers with tripods. They knew the direction where — where the shots had been fired. And they had eyes on the location where the shots had been fired.”
“When [agents] got on top of the president, [they] immediately [moved him into] what is called a fast cart, that I believe has steel reinforcement … protection was able to whisk the president away,” Hannity said.
Hannity said he had been asked to join Trump for a round Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., but declined.
The incident unfolded around 1:30 p.m. local time. A Secret Service agent scoping out the area one or two holes ahead of Trump saw the muzzle of an AK-47-style weapon pointing out of the treeline on the perimeter of the course, according to law enforcement officials.
Agents opened fire and the man fled, but not before a witness spotted him and took pictures of his vehicle and its license plate. Sheriff’s deputies used these images to quickly track down the suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, law enforcement sources told The Times. He was taken into custody 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, Penn., though his ear was grazed by a bullet.
Hannity said he spoke with Trump’s son Eric after the incident on Sunday.
“One thing Eric Trump said to me is — actually, and he was kind of choked up when he said it to me — ‘My father is running out of lives here. How many more rifles are going to be within assassination distance of my father?’ And he said it with great passion and love,” Hannity said.
Hannity lamented that a person with a weapon was once again able to get so close to the former president.
“It’s disheartening on one level. It’s sad on another level,” Hannity said. “And it’s scary on a level that, you know, somebody with an AK-47 could be that close to the president or former president and top presidential candidate and, you know, just 50 days before an election.”