Senior political reporter Maggie Haberman suggested Friday night that former President Trump may be feeling anxious after receiving two assassination threats during this election cycle.
Her comments were in response to the former president saying he was “ready to start a duel” and joking that he had problems with “the yips” after appearing surprised by the audience's movements at a rally on Wednesday. Haberman, who was at the campaign event, He told CNN's Boris Sanchez. Trump appeared “nervous.”
“You can really tell by looking at his face, because he looked to the right, he was shaking and he said he thought someone was coming onstage,” she told CNN's “The Source.”
“He's nervous,” the New York Times reporter added, noting that he had noticed him flinching. “For him to say he has a problem with the yips is an admission of insecurity, and rather unusual for a guy who always wants to appear strong.”
Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested last week in connection with an attempted assassination of the former president at a Florida golf club earlier this month. Secret Service agents found rifles sticking out around a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and fired at the suspect, who fled the scene before firing his gun.
Routh was subsequently indicted on two federal gun charges, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and using a weapon with an obliterated serial number.
The incident came after Trump was grazed by the ear in a gun attack at a rally in Pennsylvania in July, which left the gunman and another rally-goer dead and several others injured.
Scrutiny of the Secret Service and its response swirled after the shooting, leading to the resignation of former director Kimberly Cheatle, and an internal investigation finding “multiple operational and communications failures” by the agency leading up to the initial assassination attempt.
The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill on Friday to strengthen protections for former presidents, and a similar bill in the Senate would expand protections to presidential candidates and their running mates, as well as their spouses.
More broadly, Haberman said, the Trump campaign likely feels “under siege” all the time.
“He and his campaign feel very much under siege. They feel like they're under attack all the time, in some way and for a variety of reasons,” she told Sanchez in an interview. “There are physical threats. There are internet threats. There are a number of threats. And it's coming from a variety of places.”
“But we do have one shooter in Butler, Pennsylvania, and we have a suspect in Florida, and right now we have no reason to believe that those two are connected to anyone,” she later added.
Many Republicans have blamed the incident on fiery rhetoric from Democrats, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who praised the House-passed bill and said Friday that the former president was “unwavering” despite the threats.
