Katherine Firkin: US correspondent on Donald Trump getting shot at a Pennsylvania rally

Former US President Donald Trump was rushed off the stage at a rally in Pennsylvania after the sound of gunfire disrupted the event.

The Secret Service stepped in and whisked Trump into a car - with blood clearly visible on his face.

US correspondent Katherine Firkin says Trump is fine and being checked at a local medical facility.

"Interesting though - as his security tried to drag him off the stage, he seemed to protest for a moment and instead took a second to pump his fist victoriously to the sky. So this is already being turned around as a victory."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Edb As you will have heard here this morning on
News Talks, he'd be there has been an incident at
a Trump rally. Former President Donald Trump was rushed off
stage after loud bangs were heard at the start of
a rally in Pennsylvania. For the latest on this, we
are joined by Catherine Ferkin, our US correspondent. Good morning, Catherine,

(00:31):
Good morning. What do we know?

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Well, unfortunately, it does seem like this may have been
an assassination attempt. It is incredibly early in the investigation,
of course, because this has only just happened, but we
know that Trump was on stage. He was in the
middle of talking about Joe Biden. He was describing him
as the worst president in history. When a whole series
of pops rang out, which was since identified as possible gunfire.

(00:57):
Trump appeared to flinch. He grabbed the right side of
his head. He then dropped to the ground, and it
was just an extraordinary scene. Several Secret Service members can
be heard yelling, duk duk duck. They piled on top
of him. The Crown started screaming and when Trump stood
back up. There was very obvious blood on his face.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
So we can confirm Donald Trump is okay at the moment.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yes, he's already issued a statement saying he's fine. He's
being treated at a medical center. We're told that he
is safe. But if you have a look at the
footage that's now floating around, it is just such a
shocking thing to see in this day and age. Definitely,
his right ear is covered in blood. He's got blood
across the front of his face as well. Interesting though,
as his security tried to drag him off the stage,

(01:43):
he seemed to protest for a moment and instead took
a second to pump his fist victoriously to the sky.
So this certainly is already being turned around as a
victory for Donald Trump. But no question, a shocking incident
and just absolutely terrifying, particularly for the thousands of supporters
who were there standing behind him, who all of course

(02:04):
were caught up in this as well.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I was just going to say, are there reports of
anyone else being hurt? There were a lot of people
behind him.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
There were a lot of people behind him, also a
lot of people front where it appears that this possible
gun fire has come from, but at this stage it
doesn't seem like anyone else has been injured. There was,
as you would imagine, a mad scramble and rush as
it happened to people panicking. So I believe there are
minor incidents of injuries, people falling, etc. But no other

(02:31):
reports have actually been struck by the gun fire, if
that's what it is, which is actually quite incredible. What
we've already heard, though, is this wave of support for
Trump across the political aisle, even from people from the
Democrat side. Chuck Schumer was one of the first to
issue a statement saying that he is horrified by what

(02:51):
happened and that political violence has no place in the country.
We've also heard from House Democrat Leader had Ken Jeffries.
He said his thoughts and prayers are with former President Trump.
It's interesting to really think about there. I mean, I've
attended a lot of these rallies personally, I wasn't at
the one today, but there just isn't the security you
would imagine for events like this. As you said, there

(03:14):
are thousands of people that often attend. You know, you
have supposedly one of the most important people in the
world there and they barely even check bags. So I'm
obviously shocked and disappointed this has happened. But at the
same time, it's probably not hard to believe it's happened
when the political situation here is just so divisive.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
And that's what I was wondering carefu and what this
means for further rallies.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
I can't imagine that they're not going to have to
change their protocols after this. I have just been shocked
that when I've turned up to rallies myself, and yes
I'm a member of the media, but people just stream through.
Often you have to give your phone number, and you
might have a ticket on your phone to show, but
that bitch that you know, there's really very little security.
There might be there's obviously a lot of police and

(04:00):
things walking around, but you're not opening bags like you
would do at a concert. You're not getting padded down
or anything like that. So I'm obviously shocked that this
has happened, but in some ways I'm not surprised it's happened.
You know, we're in this incredibly divisive time at the
moment where there's just so much angle on both sides

(04:20):
or obviously awful to see it.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
And like this, and Catherine just finally to confirm. We
haven't confirmed its gunshots, so I'm presuming there is no
one in custody this present time.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
That's right, as far as we know, there's no one
in custody at the moment. I mean, it is all
such a quickly developing scene. We don't actually know if
it was gunfire at this point. Certainly something appears to
keep the president. He could have also injured himself when
he dropped to the ground. There's very audible pops sounding
out though, So something has struck former President Trump. He's

(04:52):
clearly suffered some kind of injury. The whole right year
is definitely bloodied, as you can see from the footage
and from still images. So something has struck in. Someone
has clearly targeted him. You know, clearly people think it's
gone fire at this point.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Catherine Ferkin, thank you so much for the update. Very
much appreciated. It is twenty seven past eleven News Talks EDB.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks EDB from nine am Sunday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.