Vance tells Rogan he initially thought Trump had been killed in July assassination attempt: 'I was so pissed'
Vance revealed Trump almost announced him as his vice presidential pick at the fateful Butler, Pa. rally
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vice presidential candidate JD Vance told Joe Rogan that he felt compelled to guard his family immediately after the first assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Vance appeared as a guest on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" released Thursday where he recalled his initial reaction to the assassination attempt against Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He revealed that ahead of the rally, Trump had toyed with the idea of having him come and announcing him as the pick there.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He basically said, 'Well, I think I'm probably going to pick you, but I don't know, and I'm not ready to make a decision.' And then he looks at one of his staff members who's in the room, he's like, 'Actually, wouldn't it really set the world ablaze if we just made the decision today, and so why don't you come up with me and we'll just do the announcement in Butler, Pennsylvania?'" the Ohio senator said.
Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance spoke to podcaster Joe Rogan.
Vance was willing to do it, but Trump changed his mind again, saying he still hadn't completely decided on him and the announcement needed to be better prepared.
"I go back home to Ohio, he gets shot, you know, the initial reaction was, I actually thought they had killed him, because when you first see the video, he grabs his ear, and then he goes down, and I'm like, ‘Oh my God, they just killed him,’ and I was so pissed," Vance said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But then I go into like fight-or-flight mode. With my kids, I'm like, you know, ‘Alright kids’ - We're at a mini-golf place in Cincinnati, Ohio. I grab my kids up, throw them in the car, go home, and load all my guns, and basically stand like a sentry at our front door and that was my- that was sort of my action to it," he said.
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Vance was announced as Trump's VP pick two days later.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}US Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Senator J.D. Vance speaks during a campaign rally at TYR Tactical in Peoria, Arizona, on October 22, 2024. (REBECCA NOBLE/AFP via Getty Images)
The pair discussed the attempted assassin, with both agreeing this was a uniquely "bizarre" case. Vance noted how strange it was that the shooter was allowed to get so close.
"An AR-15 from 140 yards away is a potshot," Vance said, later adding, "It is shocking that [Trump's] alive."
"I'm a person of faith, but I think it's a genuine miracle that that guy didn't kill him," Vance continued. "But how did he get so close? There's a lot of really big questions that we should be asking."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He recalled how people were yelling and trying to warn local law enforcement that there was a person on the roof.
"Nobody responded to it, and it's- the whole thing is very fishy to me," Vance said. "And I hope that we win and then get to the bottom of it, because I think somebody clearly screwed up."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It doesn't seem like ‘just screwed up,’" the podcast host said. "Like, the excuse that the lady from the Secret Service had that they couldn't put snipers on the roof because the roof was sloped? Like, all of it is bananas."
"That's ridiculous, that's ridiculous," Vance agreed.