One pollster predicts Americans will praise Donald Trump for his brave response to the assassination attempt, reminiscent of former President Ronald Reagan’s skillful response after being shot.
“I compare President Trump to President Ronald Reagan. He has earned historic respect for this. This is a historic moment in a historic campaign,” Trump campaign pollster John McLaughlin told The Washington Post.
President Reagan, then 70 years old, was shot by a psychopathic gunman, John Hinckley, on March 30, 1981, just over two months into his first term.
The former actor remained calm under pressure and cracked jokes to show the public he was fine.
“Hey, I forgot to duck down,” President Reagan reportedly told First Lady Nancy Reagan when she first met him at the hospital.
Reagan, who played a seriously ill football player in the film “Knute Rockne All American” and was known as “The Zipper,” even joked with the doctors who performed the surgery.
“Please tell me you’re all Republicans,” Reagan said.
He gained a great deal of sympathy and support from the American people for the shooting and his excellent attitude afterwards.
McLaughlin, who was 25 at the time and a volunteer for Reagan, called the shooting of Trump, 78, a “terrible flashback.”
“Never take anything for granted,” the pollster said grimly.
The fact that President Reagan was recovering, both health-wise and politically, was not lost on McLaughlin.
“Reagan got shot. He survived and did well. He was re-elected by a huge margin,” he said.
Similarly, a bloodied Trump’s heroic response – pumping his fist in the air and yelling at his supporters to “fight, fight” after he was shot as he was escorted off the stage at a campaign rally by Secret Service agents – would have a similar lasting impact, pollsters said.
Independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., whose father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s, praised Trump’s “inspirational” response.
McLaughlin said the frightening and potentially tragic moments surrounding Trump epitomize his true nature.
“He’s determined. He has a dignified presence and determination,” he said. “That was his immediate reaction. He loves the people who come to his meetings. It’s not just about himself.”
McLoughlin said the moment showed that Trump will never give up or cave in to his critics.
He likened Trump to Nelson Mandela, the former South African president and anti-apartheid activist.
“The things they’ve thrown at him — the impeachment, the indictment, and now someone trying to kill him — a lot of people would have caved in,” McLoughlin said.
“Just like with President Reagan, it’s a relief to know he’s OK, and it gives renewed energy to the mission. We move forward from here.”
New York state Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox said Trump’s grace under pressure would enthuse Republicans at the party’s nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week and impress open-minded Americans.
“The American people now know what kind of person Donald Trump is, and that should energize us,” Cox, the son-in-law of the late President Richard Nixon, said Saturday night after a young sniper, Thomas Matthew Crooks, shot and killed Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Cox said the latest assassination attempt reminded him of one in which New York-born former president Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest while giving a speech in Milwaukee in 1912. Roosevelt survived.
“It takes a lot more than that to kill a bull elk,” Roosevelt, an avid hunter and outdoorsman, later said.
“Trump showed the kind of toughness that people love and you just have to admire that. I can just see him after he got shot saying, ‘Fight, fight, keep fighting,'” Cox said.
Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States in 2016, but was defeated for reelection by 81-year-old President Biden in 2020. Trump is trying to make a comeback against Biden in an attempt to retake the White House.
