Tucker Carlson: Trump ‘Turned Down Most Obvious Opportunity in Politics to Inflame the Nation After Being Shot’

Former President Donald Trump emerged from an assassination attempt, his right ear pierced, blood smeared across his face, and his fist defiantly in the air on Saturday evening in Butler, Pennsylvania.

However, in the aftermath of the shooting — in which the 45th president’s brain was missed by mere inches — he “turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to inflame the nation,” Tucker Carlson said during his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday.

“I reached out to Trump within hours of it [the assassination attempt] that night. And what he said to me that night — having just been shot in the face — he said not a single word about himself,” said the former Fox News host and creator of the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN). “He said only how amazed he was and how proud he was of the crowd, which didn’t run.”

“And I thought two things. The first thing I thought was, ‘Well, of course they didn’t run. His courage gave them heart. A leader’s courage gives courage to his people,’” he continued. “And the second thing I thought was, ‘This is the selfish guy I’ve been hearing about for nine years? Really, not a word about himself?’ About his people, period,” he continued. 

Tucker Carlson knocked it out of the park with his speech at the RNC. Phenomenal. pic.twitter.com/RTU7fc8s1Q

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 19, 2024

“And the second thing I noticed, which I don’t think anyone has remarked upon in public…is that he turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to inflame the nation after being shot — to inflame the nation — which is an opportunity that almost every other politician I’ve ever met, and certainly his opponents, would’ve taken instantly,” Carlson said. 

He added that most politicians would be capitalizing on the attack and would be aggressively and publicly demanding answers, including those to “real questions that we have to get to the bottom of.” 

“But in the moments, the days, the week after the shooting, he did not say that,” he noted. “He did his best to bring the country together. And I thought, ‘This is the divisive figure? This is the irresponsible person?’ No — this is the most responsible, unifying behavior of a leader I think I’ve ever seen.” 

Defiant: Bloodied Trump Pumps Fist to Crowd After Possible Shooting at Rally

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