Less than a day after an assassination attempt in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump wasn’t in the mood for character assassination either.
That was on display Sunday when Trump sat down for an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, and O’Donnell used the opportunity to throw the gunman’s words attacking Trump in the president’s face.
And Trump made it clear that O’Donnell was out of line.
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The moment came more than halfway through an otherwise civil interview, when O’Donnell turned to the manifesto written by gunman Cole Tomas Allen, particularly the part where Allen accused Trump (though not by name) of being a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor.”
“Well, I was waiting for you to read that, because I knew you would because you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said.
“Yeah, he did write that. I’m– I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
“Oh you think — do you think he was referring to you?” O’Donnell responded.
But Trump wasn’t deterred.
“I’m not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview and they’ll probably’ — I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that, because I’m not any of those things.”
O’Donnell made a stab at justifying herself.
“Mr. President, these are the gunman’s words,” she began.
But Trump wasn’t finished.
“And I was never– excuse me. Excuse me. You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.”
O’Donnell was playing coy, but any viewer who’s followed the news in recent years knew exactly where the “pedophile” and “rapist” references came from.
They are leftist attacks on Trump based on supposed contacts with the deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein — Trump cut ties with Epstein in the early 2000s — and the dubious accusations about a mid-1990s incident by an author and journalist.
(In a 2023 civil trial, a federal jury in Manhattan found Trump liable of sexual abuse on the author, E. Jean Carroll.)
For many, many viewers, her seemingly innocent “Do you think he was referring to you?” was too cute by half:
NEW: Norah O’Donnell plays dumb as Trump tears into her after she brought up how the shooting suspect called him a “r*pist” in his manifesto.
O’Donnell: “He also wrote this: ‘I’m no longer willing to permit a ped*phile, rap*st, and traitor…’”
Trump: “I was waiting for you to… pic.twitter.com/t9tnqqrCGF
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 26, 2026
They really thought that was a “gotcha”? Bringing up deranged ramblings from a violent suspect and reading it on national TV like it’s credible? That’s not journalism—that’s desperation.
Trump called it exactly what it was. Why are you platforming the words of a sick…
— Lincoln Shepherd (@LincolnShepher) April 27, 2026
Vile, disgusting? Of course. But this will win her favors with the right people and sell massive amounts of clicks. Obviously, that was the point. 60 Minutes has been garbage for as long as I can remember.
— Johnny Balls (@JBellas) April 26, 2026
After Trump’s decade at the locus of American politics, his supporters are used to seeing him deal with hostile media.
And he’s faced Norah O’Donnell before in particular.
But the moment in Sunday’s sit-down was still infuriating for many.
If you didn’t hate them enough before… agree with so many I’m not sure why he gives them one minute of his time he has better things to do
— scottishthistle (@WCisaiah24) April 27, 2026
“If you didn’t hate them enough before… agree with so many I’m not sure why he gives them one minute of his time he has better things to do,” one social media user wrote.
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