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Trump quips he wishes Biden hadn’t called him: ‘He was so nice to me’

By Brett Samuels - 9/17/24, 8:24 PM EDT

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Former President Trump said Tuesday that both President Biden and Vice President Harris were "so nice" in their calls following an apparent assassination attempt on Trump over the weekend, hinting that it made it more difficult to attack them.

"He was so nice to me yesterday. In one way I sort of wish the call wasn’t made, because I do feel a little — he’s so nice. 'I’m so sorry about what happened,' and all that," Trump said at a campaign town hall in Michigan, recounting his call with Biden on Monday.

"Same with Kamala today. She could not have been nicer," Trump added. "But the fact is, we have to have people that are respected by the opponent."

Earlier in the event, Trump referred to the "very nice call" he had with Harris, eliciting boos from the crowd.

"No, it was very nice," Trump said as the crowd jeered.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged Monday with two gun crimes after allegedly pushing the muzzle of a rifle through the fence along the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf course while he was there, prompting a Secret Service agent to fire at him.

Trump on Monday blamed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, his opponent in November’s election, for inciting violence against him. The former president has repeatedly called Biden the worst president in history and has attacked Harris's intelligence and laugh while claiming she is a Marxist who would destroy the country.

Both Biden and Harris have warned Trump is a grave threat to democracy and freedoms such as access to reproductive health care. The two have both condemned Sunday’s incident and political violence more broadly.

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