← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
God Bless President Trump-Immediate Reaction to Horrific Shooting-Pray for Our Nation, Pray for President Trump
00:11:32
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- [00:00]
A
Ben Ferguson with you. Senator Cruz with you. And the headline says it all. Trump rushed off the stage after assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. Thank the Lord the president is fine. That coming from his spokesperson, but there are others who have lost their life. Senator, your reaction to this shocking news?
- [00:22]
B
Well, it is shortly after 8pm east coast time on Saturday, and the entire world just witnessed what appears to have been an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. All of the world is reeling. I am sitting here. Heidi and I watched it together. We are filled with anger and horror and shock. I can tell you that Heidi and I have been praying for Donald Trump. I don't know that there has been a moment when more people have prayed for Donald Trump. Then in the last hour, lifting him up. It appears that he was struck in the ear. At this point, there are conflicting reports whether it was a bullet or a fragment of glass or something else, but he was bleeding from his ear. And we are praying, number one, for protection, number two, that he is all right. But we're also praying for. The reports are right now that at least one person in attendance at the rally is dead and that another is in critical condition. And the report is also that the suspected gunman is dead as well, presumably at the hands of Secret Service or local police. It is so recent that we recognize that the facts are going to come out in hours and days to come as to who exactly this shooter is. There are all sorts of reports on the Internet, but I'm not going to speculate right now because I don't know if those tweets are accurate or not. But I am sure we will find out more about the shooter or if there was more than one shooter. There have been conflicting statements on that and what their motivation is. But I will say, sitting here, I am horrified. I am grateful for the Secret Service agents and for law enforcement who presumably stepped in and took out the shooter. I am incredibly grateful for God's providence that Donald Trump appears not to be seriously injured. And I'm praying at this point, we don't know how many people at the rally may have been injured or worse. So I'm certainly praying for everyone there who was in harm's way. This is a horrific and dark moment in American history. We have not had an attempted presidential assassination since Ronald Reagan, since I was 10 years old. That was a horrific moment in American history. And now, 24 years later, we're once again in a comparable moment. Thankfully, then, as now, the President survived.
- [03:16]
A
There are emotions that so many people listening to this are having one is thankfulness that the president is okay. There's also sorrow that we hear that others have not survived. And then there's also this anger and frustration. And people look to leaders for advice, for wisdom, for comfort. I ask you the same question that my kids ask me. Why did this happen and what happens next? And it's a question that all three of my boys asked me as I was watching this unfold on tv. And I said, I don't know why this happens. There are bad people in the world and there's good people, and sometimes evil comes after good.
- [03:57]
B
Well, that's right. And I hope what comes of this is that everyone counts to 10 and exhales. I hope that the. The political anger and rhetoric that it ratchets down. There is so much vitriol. There is so much hate. There's been so much hate directed at Donald Trump, so much just vile bitterness. You and I and many others have worried for some time that some lunatic would attempt to harm the president. And you know there is zero place for political violence on any side of the aisle. This has no place, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the office holder. If you disagree with the office holder, you can make your views plain. That's why we have debates. That's why we write op eds. That's why we vote the ballot box. But political violence has no place, and I hope the overheated and in far too many instances, unmitigated hate. My prayer is that some of that is diminished, that we move in the direction of having a civil and real public discourse rather than just screaming at each other. I will tell you, Ben, I fear. I fear things are going to escalate, that there's going to be anger on both sides of the aisle. I don't want to see this happen. I will tell you. I sat there, my immediate thoughts were thinking back to the 1960s, thinking back to when, in rapid succession, JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. And Bobby Kennedy were all assassinated and the horrors that brought this country through. We're not at that moment in time, and I pray that we are not. But it is going to take leaders de. Escalating for a moment, and I hope that's what we see.
- [06:12]
A
Finally, I just want to humanize the president for a second because I think sometimes people forget that not only is he a husband, he is a dad, he is a grandfather. I've spent time with President Trump. You spent a lot of time with President Trump. I know personally that he is. When I see him, I don't always see him as this guy that was the President. I see him as a genuinely sincere and kind man. I remember when he found out we were having twins. He said he wanted to talk to Anna and try to convince her for 10 minutes to name one of the boys. Boys. Donald. Saying it was presidential, and he was so happy that we were gonna have kids. And. And he called and he said, I hear you're expecting twins. I said, yes, sir, Mr. President, I am. And he said. He said, well, you gotta name two of them. Are they. What are they, Boys? He goes, well, you need a good name. Donald's a pretty. A pretty good name. And I laughed. He said, well, you'd have to talk to my wife about that. And he goes, well, where is she? And I said, she's downstairs. And he goes, put her on the phone. That is the human side of him. He also called after they were born. It wasn't done that day after they were born. And that's the side of Donald Trump that. That I want people to understand tonight. These are human beings. You're a human being, Senator. People that say horrible things about you and come after you. And I remind people, I try to remind them, and they say it about me. Not at the same level as you get it every day and the President gets it every day, but we're still people.
- [07:41]
B
Look, I spoke with President Trump on the phone. I think it was three days ago. He was in good spirits. I have to say, watching the footage tonight, when the shots are fired, when he's hit, and then when he's surrounded by Secret Service and being escorted off and he clutches his fist and pounds his fist into the air, it's extraordinary. I mean, it is breathtaking. After being shot, the leadership he demonstrated, you know, it reminded me when Reagan was shot in 1981, and when he was going into the hospital, and he said to Nancy Reagan, he said, honey, I forgot to duck. And he also said to the doctors as he was being wheeled into surgery, and a lot of people don't remember how close Ronald Reagan came to dying that day. The bullet, had it been just an inch further over, would have killed him that day. And he said to the doctors, I hope you all are all Republicans. And having the sense of humor and the presence to say that even while going into surgery, is extraordinary. President Trump, like, pounding his fist and standing up strong. It was a remarkable moment of leadership. It also was reminiscent of Teddy Roosevelt when he was shot, giving a speech, and kept on giving the speech. I mean, it is a fighting spirit that is inspirational and I just want to call on everyone listening. We're going to have time when we learn more about what exactly happened. We learned more about the shooter and who he was and what his motivations were. And there's going to be time to figure out what went wrong, what could have been done to prevent this. But right now, just as a country, I hope we have a moment. A moment. You know, I think back to after 9 11. After 9 11, we had a moment where as a country, we came together and we had unity and we hugged each other and we just lifted our country up. And I'm going to ask everyone in the country, pray for President Trump, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, pray for President Trump that he is all right now, but also that he be protected. But also pray for President Biden and pray for all of our leaders that they be protected from political violence, that we don't see crazed, angry zealots engaging in violence. We have seen that. We have seen that tonight. And my prayer is that our country steps back from this brink. And again, I just want to express my incredible thanks for Secret Service and law enforcement and also pray for the people who may have been shot today, the bystanders, the families of anyone injured or killed, and just pray for our nation. I really believe America needs God's grace right now. That's my prayer, and I hope it's yours as well.
- [11:00]
A
It is. Hug your family, hug your kids, call your friends and tell them you love them. And I just think this is, like you said, a very pivotal moment in our country's history. And I hope that we all take that deep breath and pray for the president and especially those at that rally. Senator Cruz and I will be back with you. I can promise you in a couple days we'll have a lot more to talk about, but I thought it was important that we come on here and have this conversation now. Center, take care of the fam, and I will see you. And to everyone listening, we'll see you guys soon.