JD Vance has recalled his knee-jerk reaction to seeing video of a gunshot hit former President Donald Trump at a July rally in Pennsylvania, revealing he thought his then-future running mate was dead and that others may be coming for him next.
“I thought, oh, my God, they just killed him,” he told podcaster Joe Rogan in a three-hour interview released Thursday, describing his response to video of the assassination attempt. “First I was so pissed, but then I go into fight-o- flight mode with my kids.”
The Ohio senator, who has since become Trump’s vice presidential running mate, said he was playing miniature golf with his kids in Cincinnati when he saw the video of Trump being escorted off stage after being wounded on the ear. He said he immediately ran home and armed himself.
Vance was under consideration as Trump’s running mate at the time of the July 13 shooting and did not yet have Secret Service protection. His selection was announced two days later at the Republican National Convention.
“I grab my kids up, throw them in the car, go home and load all my guns and basically stand like a sentry at our front door,” he told Rogan, laughing.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) approved a request for security to monitor Vance’s home shortly after the shooting, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. It wasn’t revealed who made the security request.
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Vance’s neighbors also told The Cincinnati Enquirer that they had noticed more security outside of the senator’s home after the shooting.
The 20-year-old who fired at Trump from a rooftop in Butler also hit three rallygoers, one fatally. The gunman was killed by Secret Service agents seconds later.