The Dan Bongino Show - BUTLER: Where Are We One Year After The Assassination Attempt? | Episode 83

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

In the anniversary of Trump's first assassination attempt, we look back into the events of the day with author Salena Zito, who was in Butler that day. Also: yesterday's ICE raids got violent as one of the illegal aliens appeared to shoot back. Sponsors: Blackout Coffee - BlackoutCoffee.com/Vince Bon Charge - ⁠boncharge.com⁠ and use the code VINCE Helix Sleep - Helixsleep.com/Vince Boll & Branch - Bollandbranch.com/Vince Immigration raid at cannabis farm leads to violence in Camarillo as hundreds protest⁠https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-10/federal-immigration-sweep-ventura-county-farms⁠ Flip-flop: Justice search for Epstein files is still ‘ongoing’ ⁠https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/3467648/flip-flop-justice-search-for-epstein-files-is-still-ongoing/⁠ Pam Bondi Claims ‘No Knowledge’ Of Epstein Being Intel Asset — But Evidence Is Overwhelming ⁠https://dailycaller.com/2025/07/10/jeffrey-epstein-pam-bondi-alex-acosta-department-of-justice-alleged-intelligence-asset/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, welcome to Vince. Here we go on a Friday. Ice ice baby. Yes, yes. We've got to cover these raids on these marijuana farms in California. We have full blown marijuana farms in California getting raided by ice and rightfully so because it turns out there's a ton of illegals working there, including child labor.

What are we even doing? Of course, what we're doing now is we're raiding them rightfully. So glad we're doing that. So I've got the updates on that, the way the left is trying to defend all of it and so much more. Also, Selena Zito is gonna be with us today. She's written a great new book.

The title of it is Butler, looking back now just about a year ago on that attack on Butler, Pennsylvania, the one, the, you know, the attempt on the president's life was crazy and she's here with us today. This program is brought to you by Blackout Coffee, the official coffee of all of us here at Silverlock. Go to blackoutcoffee.com slash Vince, use the code.

Vince, that's V-I-N-C-E for 20% off your first order. That's blackoutcoffee.com slash Vince. Yeah, it's this raid today we're about to get into, it's like the most obvious thing in the world. No, you shouldn't have child labor on your marijuana farm in California. No, and no, you should not have illegals all over the place. And yes, they should be deported.

And no, you should not be rioting. And no, you should not be shooting at federal law enforcement. And yet that's exactly what happened in the last 24 hours. But these, I love seeing workplace enforcement, don't you? I've got the details coming up. This program is brought to you by Bone Charge Infrared Sauna Blanket and Red Light Face Mask. We love these products here in my house. Can't recommend them enough. I like the sauna blanket because it helps in a big way. It's a sauna, let's be honest, it's a sauna. So it's great in all the ways you need a sauna to be. It helps with muscle recovery, detoxification. It's a huge game changer for me, very easy to use.

I just wrap myself up in this blanket and the infrared heat works its magic and it's created a huge difference for me, how I relax, how I rejuvenate, how I feel afterward. My wife loves the red light face mask. She uses it all the time, every evening puts this thing on and she's seeing great results. It helps with your skin's texture, reduces inflammation. It's like having a mini spa treatment right inside the house. So if you're thinking about trying either of these products out, you're in luck. Head to bonecharge.com. Use that code Vince at checkout to get 15% off. Both of these products have made a huge impact on helping my wellness routine. I'm sure you're going to love them too.

Use the code VINCE at bonecharge.com. Save 15%. These statements and products have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Okay. We've got a, we've got a raid going on. We have these ICE raids going on in California and rightfully so on these marijuana grow facilities. And that basically they just got a ton of illegals working there. And the name of the employer is Glasshouse, apparently. And they've been accused of a lot of things

through the years. Jennifer VanLar over at Red State has just a wonderful threat on this subject today. And she points out that this ICE raid that was taking place again on Thursday was on a place that is out of control. ICE and Border Patrol had a judicial warrant for Glasshouse. This is a top cannabis grower in the state of California, in the entire United States.

They've been harboring illegal aliens according to the warrant. This employer, the actual farm, has been sued over and over for labor law violations. You've got the Socialist Party as well as Union del Barrio that was implicated in those riots in June. They're involved in getting all of the rioters to this farm location. So these are the same rioters that we've seen. These are the same guys who are funded by the left. This is all gigantic astroturf riot insurrection garbage.

That payment structure, that organization, the federal government has been investigating all of this. They, I hope they move on these guys quick because they keep causing all this destruction and threatening the lives of these ICE agents. Lots of groups involved, 805 UndocuFund, 805 Immigrant Coalition, MyCobb, congre- I mean, Jennifer is doing really great work on reporting all of this. They find a bunch of illegal alien kids there doing labor on the marijuana farm and also a former Clinton

administration staffer and an assemblyman called Hector de la Torre is also on the board of this marijuana farm in California. So that leads us to the images that we're getting overnight. Take a look at cut two. Here's the raid. This is the raid on the farm. People being taken into custody, running off, tear gas being fired at the rioters. Here we go Yeah, people running away from all this tear gas being fired this is from video footage from KTLA 5 local broadcaster People running off and it says children comma protesters running

from tear gas during immigration rate of course the way this video was set up was to try and make it as sympathetic as possible to the situation here for the illegals who were involved oh how sad how sad that there's an immigration raid going on how sad that there's workplace enforcement going on no actually what's sad is that this has been No, actually what's sad is that this has been allowed to continue. What's sad is that you have illegal child labor going on at a marijuana farm in California. What's sad is that this is a total violation of our sovereignty and our country has aided and abetted this no more. So if you were looking for mass deportation

raids, there you go. You've got an example of one, of course, taking place in California. This is a sanctuary state. They don't want to do this. They're trying to stop this from being done. And they're threatening law enforcement in the process. Take a look here. Cut one. One of the rioters, one of the insurrectionists taking a gun and firing it randomly in the direction of federal law enforcement. Look at this. Take a look at this video right here. It appears a protester fired some kind of gun at federal agents. This happened this afternoon. It was a really chaotic scene at the time.

A lot of smoke was being launched at the protesters. And again, it appears a protester fired back with that weapon. It looks like he fired at least a couple of times. We have not heard about any agents being hurt. Some kind of gun, it's a handgun. That's what it is. It looks like it's not a Nerf gun. What is he firing?

It was a handgun. He's firing a handgun in the direction of federal law enforcement. The feds are looking for that guy. Unfortunately, the photos and stuff that they've been sharing, that video, it's all been super grainy, hard to identify. But man, I hope they can track that guy. Unfortunately, the photos and stuff that they've been sharing, that video, it's all been super grainy, hard to identify, but man, I hope they can track that guy down and throw him on his face. That's outrageous that that's happening. And that's

happening right here in the United States. That's what the Democrats have been rooting on. That particular thing where ICE agents are shot at by illegal aliens, presumably, or just, you know, run-of-the-mill lefties. That's what these guys have been rooting on. That's what Hakeem Jeffries has been rooting on, and Eric Swalwell, and Dan Goldman, and Tampon Tim Walz, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and Governor Gavin Newsom. The list goes on and on and on, saying, oh, we got to unmask ICE. ICE is the real enemy. They're the Nazis. And now these guys are taking shots at them. That's just the latest incident where that's occurred. In the last week, we've seen now three attacks on ice.

That makes the third one. Three times that firearms were used against ice agents just trying to do their jobs, just trying to do their jobs. The left rooting in on the rest of us, normal people condemning it, normal people saying this is outrageous. It's not shocking because of what the rest of us, normal people condemning it, normal people saying this is outrageous. It's not shocking because of what the left has created, but it is appalling that it's happening in the United States of America.

We've got to put an end to it. So you get the shots fired in this situation. You also get a lot of left-wing lies about what exactly is even going down at this facility. Gavin Newsom, speaking of greasy Gavin, Gavin Newsom is claiming that, oh, these kids were running, kids, kids are running from tear gas, crying on the phone because their mother was just taken from the fields.

Says Gavin Newsom, Trump calls me new scum, but he's the real scum. Now I wanna reiterate what's going on here. Around a dozen of the children who were found at this facility were here in the country illegally and are believed to be being subjected to child labor here in the United States. Everything about this is completely illegal.

Border Patrol Commissioner Commissioner Rodney Scott offered this update overnight about those kids and about how much Gavin Newsom is lying to you. Take a look, breaking news, the 10 juveniles that were found at this marijuana facility, all illegal aliens, eight of them unaccompanied. It's now under investigation for child labor violations. This is Newsome's California.

So Gavin Newsome stepping on a huge rake here saying, oh, look at these poor children. Yeah, they're poor because of what abuses you've allowed to be done to them in your state of California. That's why they were there, is because they were being used in that way. So that's a great update.

I love how snappy, don't you love how fast these Trump administration officials are? Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott leaping all over this instantly going, no, no, no, this is child labor, you ghoul, Gavin Newsom. So that's the update on the kids and what they're doing there.

That's out of control. Also, you get Democrats who are claiming that this was nothing but this is that these fields were being used to grow food for Americans. And, oh, president Trump said he was just gonna go after the violent criminals. And now he's going after our food supply. What?

This is here's Congressman Jimmy Gomez posting to X overnight. How many MS 13 gang members are waking up at 3 a.m. to pick strawberries? Oh yeah, zero, he says, zero. They're picking strawberries. Trump said he'd go after the bad hombres, but he's targeting the immigrant farm workers

who feed America. Either he lied or he can't tell the difference. Now, how many lies do you see in this particular post or do you hear in this particular post if you're listening to the audio podcast right now? How many lies can we count here? It's crazy. First of all, they're not picking strawberries. This is a massive marijuana grow operation. That's what this is. So there's no strawberry picking on going on. The president never said he wasn't going to deport illegal alien farm workers. In fact, he said he was going to deport everybody.

He said mass deportations. I correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't that what the president said? The president said he would deport everyone who was here illegally, the biggest mass deportation operation in American history. It wasn't limited to any category of illegal alien, MS-13, bad hombres or otherwise. You're here illegally, you go. There you go. What else do we have? Oh, he lied or he can't tell the difference, says Jimmy Gomez, this goofball congressman from Los Angeles. No, you're the one who's lying. Not a strawberry operation, it's a marijuana grow. So there you go.

Yeah, and I see the chat pointing out something here that is worth dwelling on. It is true that in the state of California, they say it's legal to have this operation, this marijuana, these marijuana fields, these are totally legal. And in fact, the media today is giving us the totally legal.

That's not true under federal law. That continues to be there's a discordance between federal law and state law. And wherever you are on this issue of marijuana and whether or not it should be legal in the United States, it's just a plain fact that the federal government still considers it illegal and that the state governments are kind of making it up as they go along. And by and large, the feds have just kind of turned a blind eye to it. They're just like, okay, whatever, people like pot, we're going to look the other way. There's been a lot of that. But here, regardless, I don't

even care about that issue right now. All I care about is these are illegal aliens. They've got illegal child labor. And the left is straight up lying that this is a part of our food supply. It has nothing to do with food. I don't know, what was the last time you were eating pot leaves? What was the last time you did a little tossed salad of pot? You gotta get that, the wacky tabacky into a salad. Nobody's doing that, that's so crazy. It's not our food supply.

These aren't strawberries. So that's Jimmy Gomez, he's not alone. He's not alone, we got another one, who else? Oh, Ruben Gallego from Arizona pulled the same stunt. And this is happening all over the place this morning. There you go. Ruben Gallego saying instead of prioritizing dangerous criminals, Trump is targeting families that have been here for years, picking our food. The public outcry and protests are occurring because the American public knows this is wrong.

Ruben Gallego is lying to you, lying to you. California does have some good strawberries though. They're not picking strawberries here, this is all weed. What does that shirt say by the way? Hold up, hold up. Let me throw this to a full screen for you. I gotta see, this is funny. I just realized what this lady's shirt says.

Take a look at this. Let me see. Her shirt says, gayness is next to godliness. Do you see this? Am I getting all of this correct? Is that an illegal alien wearing a COVID mask with dyed purple hair with a shirt that says gayness is next to godliness. This lady is straight out of left-wing lunatic central casting. This, yes.

Who said that? Thobmeyer says she needs to go to church. Yeah, I completely agree. Get to church. Holy cow. Clearly she's never read the Bible. What else we have? The chat's going wild over this.

She's no lady, says 20sunflower73. Yeah, actually, I'm sorry. Yeah, maybe I'm giving him too much credit. Maybe that's a dude. Maybe that's a... We could be dealing with a transgender left-wing, dyed hair, COVID mask, fat belly showing gayness is next to godliness, illegal alien. Well, anyway, that's what's going on at this bizarro marijuana operation. If it wasn't for the terrorists taking shots at ICE, this would be fall over on your side funny. But, but at least that's a, that's a little bit of

comedy in the midst of all of us. Yeah. So these Democrats, they're, they're still sticking with these lines that that it's just a strawberry operation. It's just for food when it's no such thing. And we're going after these guys appropriately. So there was a really important update this morning on the kids, you know, the foreign labor that's being used at this operation. We do have Tom Holman. Tom Holman was on the Fox News channel this morning and he was asked about the kids

and he gave a really important piece of data. You remember the 300,000 kids who are missing? You know, the 300,000 kids are missing all across the country, imported by the Biden administration and just completely lost by the Biden people, intentionally so. They didn't care.

They were trafficking human beings. They were trafficking children, many of whom have been sexually exploited, who've been exploited for labor. Oh, like at the marijuana operation that just got busted. Here's Tom Holman this morning announcing, we found 10,000 of these missing children so far. Have you heard that anywhere? 10,000 children have been children so far. Have you heard that anywhere? 10,000 children have been found.

Take a look, here's Tom Homan this morning. But Tom, it strikes me unbelievable that the Democrats are not on board. When you look at this raid, these are, there were 10 juveniles that were illegally brought across the border. You and I covered this under the Biden administration. I was down in Texas.

We encountered a 8, 10-year-old, 12-year-old coming across with just a name and an address and a phone number on their necks, the cartel ruthlessly sending them across. And yet now we know that 10 of them, 8 of which were unaccompanied miners working illegally in a marijuana farm and your agents go in and rescue them essentially and yet there is violent resistance to that. Does that upset you? It certainly upsets me and like I said, the work men and women of ICE are doing is incredible. Look we're looking for over 300,000 missing children.

We've already found 10,000. Have you heard that anywhere? No, the media is simply not covering it. And look, this should be a nonpartisan issue. Arresting, public safety threats, and national security threats, everybody would be on the same page on that. Rescuing children, I mean,

it should be a nonpartisan issue. This should be a completely nonpartisan issue. He's totally right about that. They see Rescuing children. Yeah. I mean, it should be a nonpartisan issue. Every- They should be completely nonpartisan issues. Totally right about that. They saved 10,000 kids. They have found and saved 10,000 children. That- I'll take that. I'll take that. You know, these kids were brought here illegally, smuggled in illegally, but it's not the fault of a little child that they were put in that situation. Those kids are being exploited. They're having their lives utterly destroyed. And the Trump administration has now rescued 10,000 of them. Remember, RFK Jr. talked about this because a lot of this was done under HHS and the refugee program that the Biden people were running. They were trafficking people in. RFK Jr. said this is

the biggest human trafficking operation ever. And it was being paid for by taxpayers against your will, by the way, against my will. It's vile what happened. And it breaks your heart completely to think what's happening to those kids. And so Tom Homan, who I like, somebody told me recently, they, they're like, Tom Homan, they didn't, they don't like how he sounds, you know, who I like, somebody told me recently, they're like, Tom Homan, they don't like how he sounds. You know, it sounds like he's got marbles in his mouth. I was like, no, no, no, stop, stop. You know what I love about Homan? I'm wearing all my shirt today.

I got Tom Homan on my shirt, ice ice baby. I go, Tom Homan, the difference between him and so many other people in Washington, Tom Homan sounds totally authentic. Everything about him sounds completely authentic. Like that guy's not putting on airs. He's totally legit. Everything, he's just like kind of like a hardscrabble blue collar dude who's like, I hate when kids are exploited. I hate our borders being open. I want my sovereignty. I'm all in on Homan. I love the whole presentation. I love the whole thing. And the most important thing I love is that he's actually doing the work. You know, he did a great job in the first place for Trump

originally. And then President Trump brought him back and said, I need you to run the show, baby. And when when he came in as the borders are, and in the early days when the president said that Kristi Noem was going to be the DHS secretary, I was a little worried about that. Honestly, at the top, I was like, Christine Nome? Didn't, wasn't she kind of weak on the trans stuff in South Dakota? She didn't have this like sterling record as governor that made me really excited about her. So I was concerned that she wasn't going to be dynamite on the border. But we had, I had, I had Tom Holman on my show. I forget which show we talked to, this one or my old local radio show in DC. And I asked him about this and he said,

look, we're gonna be working arm in arm. The two of us are gonna be working together really tightly on this. He has a lot of faith in Kristian Ohm and that faith has proven accurate. I mean, it's worked, it's worked. It doesn't mean we ever sit back and we become, we rest easy that everybody's doing the right

thing and we just stop paying attention. We should. But I gotta say, I love what Tom Homan's doing. And whatever concern I had about Kristi Noem, it's completely evaporated. I'm totally thrilled with the job that she's done as DHS secretary now. So these guys are, they've got a lot going on. They want to get these mass deportations up even more. But remember, in the past week, we had this whole amnesty conversation. We have had it because, you know, you and I are paying attention as the, it was the agriculture secretary,

Brooke Rollins, who keeps on bringing up this idea. Well, maybe with the farms, we shouldn't go after the people who are working illegally on the farms. And we're going to have to figure out a different system, or maybe we'll eventually get to them. We won't prioritize them. You know, and so I've been very concerned about that. That's not that I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about Brooke Rollins right now and what she's saying and what the president has said as a result. But if you were wondering, are they gonna go after the farms? Are they gonna treat these as places that deserve amnesty? That marijuana farm raid is proof, yes, there's going to be some farm activity. Yes, they're going to go after some of these work sites.

And yes, they're going to deport illegals that they take into custody. So that's the thing. This is all encouraging what I'm looking at right now. Yeah. And Silver Surfer 41 says, Christy is the best looking grandma in the world. So she has that going for her too. Congrats, Christy is the best looking grandma in the world. So she has that going for her too. Congrats, Christy Noem. Grandma. It's true. It's true. All right, I got a lot more coming up for you.

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That's right. Just visit helixsleep.com slash Vince and get 27% off site-wide, exclusive for listeners of this show. Helixsleep.com slash Vince. Yes, indeed. Thank you to Helix for being great. Apparently we had a hot mic moment yesterday

at the beginning of our show. For those of you who don't watch the Rumble stream, there's a countdown when we start the Rumble stream. It goes for about 30 seconds. And you know, it's a cool little feature because it builds anticipation. You're like, oh stream, it goes for about 30 seconds. And you know, it's a cool little feature because it builds anticipation. You're like, oh man, it's coming, the show's coming. But what's supposed to happen is,

my microphone is not supposed to be on. But I was talking to the guys yesterday. And if you go back to yesterday's program and check it out, you can hear me tell the story, but I'll reiterate it here. We had a lightning storm in Northern Virginia just a few days ago, and the lightning was striking like hundreds of feet from my house,

just hundreds of feet away. You know, where the lightning hits, and then the sound hits at the same moment, you know it's close. No counting down the seconds to figure out how far that lightning strike was. It was right outside the house. And Major was nervous about it, of course.

Major found a corner and he was lying down and the dogs get all worked up. But my other dog, Raina, she's a rescue. She was super abused before we got ahold of her. So she's got all sorts of trauma. That poor dog, the lightning strikes, she's like instantly, not to embarrass her, don't tell her I said this,

she instantly pooped herself right in the middle of the kitchen. I couldn't even believe what was going on. And normally, if your dog goes to the bathroom in the house, she's like, hey, don't do that. You want to like stop them from doing it. I just felt so bad for it. We cleaned it up and I held that dog. This dog is so nervous all the time that she's hard to pet. But after the lightning storm was going on, she pinned herself to my body. And she was vibrating like a cell phone, just the whole just the whole thunderstorm shaking, but she pinned herself to me and it was really sweet. And we just we wrote it out together. We were Thunderbodies.

We wrote it out together. But man, that poor dog. Anyway, that was on the hot mic. Yes. Mike safety. Lo and behold reminds me treat every mic like a hot mic. Yes, the guys keep telling me., reminds me, treat every mic like a hot mic. Yes, the guys keep telling me. But anyway, let's take a look here. Oh, here's a good story.

You want a fun story? This one's fun. Pam Bondi, as critical as I've been of her this week about the Jeffrey Epstein stuff, as you know, I'm not in any way enthused about that stupid one and a half page memo we got last week that did not settle me down about Jeffrey Epstein. It only made me more suspicious and curious about what the government's up to here. And I'm pretty, I'm basically all in on this idea

that Epstein was pretty obviously a part of some sort of Intel operation and everyone's trying to make it go away so that we stop focusing on it. But that said, Pam Bondi is doing something good this week that's annoying all of the right people. They're firing a ton of people at the United States Department of Justice and in the FBI. All due credit to what's going on at the FBI.

These guys have fired hundreds of people. They have forced out hundreds of people out of that deeply corrupt agency. And that's just such great news. But one of the people that was just fired from the justice department did an interview with CBS to whine about the fact that she was fired. I want you to take a look here. This Pam Bondi just fired another one

of these January 6 tyrants. And here she goes rushing to CBS to complain about it. Here it is cut for, look. We're driving straight toward an abyss. What do you mean? The rules don't exist anymore. The laws don't seem to exist anymore. Hartman is the fourth person fired since early June

who helped work the largest prosecution in American history, the prosecution of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol and beat police officers January 6th. Help! But Hartman's case is different. She wasn't a prosecutor or an FBI agent. She was a public relations administrator,

sending out her boss's news releases and helping with the content for a website and database of January 6th cases, which the Trump administration has taken offline. There used to be a line. It used to be a very distinct separation between the white house and the department of justice, because one should not interfere with the work of the other. You think that line's gone?

That line is very definitely gone. Oh, okay. For those of you who've kept track of the Constitution at any point in your life, correct me if I'm wrong. The United States Department of Justice is a part of the executive branch, right? The Justice Department does report to the President of the United States, correct? This whole thing, she's like, oh, no, no, it is a completely separate branch of government. The president should have no influence whatsoever. The White House should have no influence whatsoever

over the United States Department of Justice. What in the world is this chick talking about? So giving that assessment confirms for me that she should be nowhere near the Department of Justice. And she was involved in all of the tyranny at the hands of the Department of Justice against Trump supporters. And proudly so.

She was a part of the January 6th stuff. And then I love how CBS tries to distance her. Well, she wasn't a prosecutor. She was just in the PR side of things. Oh, really? The PR side of things? Let's talk about the PR side of things and the impact that that had. Julie Kelly documents this chick.

Her name is Patricia Hartman. And Julie Kelly points out that she for years churned out near daily press releases to boast about indictments, convictions, and sentencings in January 6 cases. Her handiwork created national and local coverage of January Sixers, fueling hate against them and then endangering their safety. Pam Bondi just fired her and now she wants sympathy, says Julie. Hartman arguably did more damage to the lives of January Sixers than did prosecutors and or judges. Her firing should only be part of the price she pays, says Julie. Yeah. So now she's whining on television

that when she was in the justice department, she was supposed to report to the president of the United States to be a part of the executive branch of our government. That's how it works. It's the constitution we are talking about. It is article two of the constitution that we are talking about. It is Article 2 of the Constitution that we are talking about.

Yes, you work for the president. You don't like it, get out. And if you don't wanna get out, we'll help you out, which is what Pam Bondi just did. So good for the attorney general firing that person and a whole lot more. The left keeps complaining that all the prosecutors are getting fired.

All the January 6 people are being fired. Good, fire them all and then prosecute them, would you? While you're on the mission? All right, coming up in just a moment, I've got a great writer joining us and an eyewitness to the events of July 13th last year in Butler, Pennsylvania. Selena Zito is gonna be with me.

She's got a great new book on the subject. And we're going to look back on that fateful day and just how close we came to pure pandemonium in this country. It's just amazing. Again, I feel the hand of God and the way those events transpired now nearly a year ago. Before we get there, I got to thank our sponsors. Blackout Coffee is a great sponsor of this program for a bunch of reasons, including

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Use the code Vince and get 20% off your first order. Blackout coffee, thank you to Blackout. Thank you also to Bull and Branch. You know, we talk about how much better my sleep is these days. One of the big reasons for that, Bull and Branch sheets. So if you're ever in a situation where you're lying in bed, mind racing, worrying about the next day, thinking about the to-do list,

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Okay. July 13th. Where are we? It's the 11th two days from now this Sunday, July 13th will mark one year since the assassination on President Trump that led to him being wounded, standing up, holding a fist to the air and saying, fight, fight, fight. That was in Butler, Pennsylvania. One of the people who was there to witness that is my next guest. Selena Zito joins us now. She's the author of the new book, Butler. So glad to be here.

Thank you so much. That was a great introduction. Well, I just can't even believe that it's been a year. How does the time pass for you? Do you feel like it flew by or what? How are you observing this anniversary? So many things for me as a journalist have happened in that moment.

Not only did I chronicle what happened that day, I began writing the book, something I didn't even think of, but someone approached me and said, this is history. You've got to chronicle it. And so I just dove right in while still doing my job as a reporter. If listeners aren't familiar with me, I'm from Western Pennsylvania and sort of the Great Lakes Midwest, Pennsylvania and Appalachia is basically my beat. So I did still continue to cover the election and still write the book and relive it and live it in the moment, but also be able to tell how much that moment has changed us in a way that I still don't think people understand in terms of my profession and the Democrats and maybe some Republicans. But it feels like it was yesterday.

I'm sure it does. Okay. So give people a sense of where you were, because we all have the image in our minds of President Trump on that stage, turning to the side, looking at it, looking at the chart, the shots being fired, his ear being hit, going to the ground, all of it. But where were you in relation to all of this? How close were you to this? I was just a few feet away. I had just spoken to the president six minutes before he was shot. He wanted to say hi to me before the event started. And I was telling him, he tells me,

why don't we fly to Bedminster and we'll do the interview then. It was supposed to be done there at Butler. And I said, okay, that's what put me in the buffer zone. The buffer is sort of that well that's between the president on the stage and the people attending the rally. Usually it's just photojournalists there, but I was there with my daughter who took

the photo for the book. So we go out. How old is your daughter? 38. Oh, okay. So she's an adult, I say. Okay. I was curious.

Yeah, she's a photojournalist. Yeah. Got it. We keep the newspaper thing in the family. I'm the great- Cool. Granddaughter of a newsman. And so, you know, we follow him out. She's taking photos. I'm taking photos. I'm having video. People go back and look at my old ex account. They can see me covering it. He goes out on the stage. He goes by the podium. They tell us, my daughter Shannon and I, to go over off to the left, left, left. And because we're going to go

in the motorcade, they sort of wanted us positioned to be ready to go stick grab us. So we're just off to his left. And he starts speaking. speaking and something he does something that he never rarely does I shouldn't say never but he rarely rarely has a chart if he does have a chart it's at the end and this chart comes out and I remember turning to my daughter and saying what was he Ross Perot he never has a chart and and then I remember him doing something that he also doesn't ever do, and that's turn his head. Now, why doesn't he do that? If you've ever gone to a Trump rally or watched one in detail, the relationship between the people that are there and him is very transactional.

They feed off of him, and he also feeds off of them. It's connective tissue. And so he doesn't turn away. He might turn his whole body away, but never his neck, never turns away. He turns away. And in that moment, that's when I hear the first four shots go right, right over my head. I knew immediately what it was. I'm a gun owner. I see him, it's really interesting. People that have gone through traumatic events sometimes say things move in slow motion. I would attest to that.

It's almost as though time layers itself. And I watch him, I watch the blood streak across his face. I watch him grab his ear. I'm just a few feet away from him. I have my recorder on, not because I think something bad's going to happen, because I always have my recorder on. I always record his speeches because it's important to get the nuance when people talk rather than just flatly put the words down. And so it's still rolling. I forget that.

And and I see him. This is the like first instant that I thought maybe he's not hurt that bad. I know he's hurt. But he takes himself down. He's not taken down. Right. The bullet didn't knock him down. And he he gets down on his knees, the podium has sort of a protective shield

around it. That didn't matter. That's not the direction that the bullets were coming from. And I see he's surrounded by a sea of blue suits, secret service. And at the same time, there's the next round of shots go off. Now I'm still standing. My daughter's still taking photos. And I just, there was this moment where I said, okay, God gave me a talent to be a writer. And I always believe we have purpose in life. And my purpose was to chronicle this in the most vivid and honest way.

So you were standing, you were aware of what was going on and you continued to stand through it, in other words. Like you weren't standing because you were dumbfounded and you had no idea what was going on. You were standing because you thought, I have to keep observing this because I've got to document it. Yes. And I talked into it. So a couple of things happen in the next few seconds. His press campaign, a advanced man, his name is Michelle Picard, the third. He takes me down.

He takes me down. He's like, get down and boom, he is on top of me. And he's holding me in a protective stance. And it's then that I pull my recorder out, I see that my phone out, and I see it's still recording. So I start talking into my phone, into the recording, so that I don't forget any detail, which probably won't happen because I just have one of those brains that remembers things. Yeah. And so he stood over me,

he laid on top of me until we got the all clear. I see the president, a lot of people didn't see this and maybe it was just because of, I just had a unique vantage point. But the crowd behind him is saying USA. And I see his face and he says USA. He doesn't say it out loud, but he at least mounds it. And they're trying to get him up, not because he's he's unable to get up.

This was actually the funny part. He wants his shoes on and he refuses to get up until his shoes are on. And the secret service is like, sir, we have to go, sir, we have to go. Because I need my shoes on. And I'm like, I cannot believe he's saying that right now. Like I said that into my record,

I'm like, I can't believe him. That's amazing. He gets his shoes on and he gets up on his own. And they're keeping this stance around him, right? And they want to keep it around him while they exit off the stage. And he goes, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And he turns around and says, fight, fight, fight. Now a lot of people think he says that for whatever reason they put on it. But when he calls me the next morning, he explains why. Okay. Let me get to that. I'm going to hold that, put a pin in that because I do want to ask you about that. But one thing that I've thought about a lot since that day, and I'm curious if you have the answer, when he was lying on the ground

and the Secret Service were on top of him, I believe one of the agents acknowledged that the shooter had been neutralized. Somebody said something to that effect while they were lying on the ground because the snipers took Thomas Crooks out. The Secret Service agents who were lying on top of Trump, one of them said out loud that that had occurred.

So when Trump stands up, he heard that he had heard that that those words. And so part of him standing up and going fight, fight, fight was he already had information. He knew that the shooter was taken out. And now he's going right to the crowd and saying, fight, fight, fight. Yes, it's still dangerous, but he's aware generally that the shooter has been neutralized. Right.

He is aware of that, but they're still not sure if there's not another shooter or accomplice there. Right. And that's a conversation that they have. And that was an immediate concern afterwards. When they came past me, if you look at some of the video footage, you can see a Secret Service guy in full camo with

an AR pointed right at my head. They don't know. They don't know there could be someone else there. Right? There's always that possibility. Of course. So the people who were in the crowd, I know the president, we've we now know, and he may have told you he marveled at their restraint.

Because the reaction from the crowd was definitely not one of cowardice. There was some self-preservation going on, but there was no panic. People didn't sprint off, create a stampede, injure more people. They were there. They tried to keep their heads down, but they were very focused on what was happening and whether or not the president was okay. Tell me about that. Yeah. And that has a lot to do with that decision of him saying fight, fight, fight. It has a lot to do with the people there. There's this really powerful moment in the book. When

I get to the parking lot after they finally let me out of the back. It's about an hour later and the farm field is completely empty. So I assume everyone is driven away. If you've ever been to Western Pennsylvania, our hills are very sloping. So you couldn't see the parking lot walking across the field. You get down and you look on the field and there was 50,000 people there. There's anywhere between 15 to 20,000 vehicles there. People are out, they're hugging, they're crying, they're laughing, they're holding each other, they're sharing water, they're sharing food. I have covered middle America for most all of my life. Again, I live in Western Pennsylvania. These are the people that are the most disparaged in within our media and within both the Democrat

and Republican parties and at one point or another, they're the ones that are looked down on there. And to see that moral clarity and that, you know, being part of something bigger than self and see that character within them was, I still get goosebumps when I think about it because it was, it was almost joyful. And I know that sounds really strange to say, but, but it's also that moment to me, that moment continued from that day. That moment continued from that day

all the way to election day. And it was infectious in a way that people didn't understand in the way that people still do not understand. Yeah, I completely agree. So tell me about the conversation you have with the president. So the president speaks to you the very next day and you said he described to you

why he said fight, fight, fight. What did you learn? So he called me the next morning and he said, Selena, this is president Donald J. Trump. Like, I didn't know that, right? Uh-huh. And the first thing he asked, I think this is important to note, are you OK?

Is your daughter OK? And he apologized for not doing the interview. And yeah, that's the reaction I had. That's crazy. I know it's like so sad. I mean, that's that's not that's not the story the media tell about Trump. But I did something that's going to make my parents really unproud of me when they read the book, because I swore like a truck driver. And I said, are you bleeping kidding me, sir?

You've just been shot. I mean, that's so generous. But but anyways, he would go on to call me seven times that day. We had some very good and people will read this in the book, but also they will. Once they read it, they'll understand what they saw the rest of the election. They'll understand what they see today. He talks about God, about the hand of God being in the moment and about a new found purpose.

And then I said to him in our last, and I did not, I felt he needed his space to figure things out. I needed my space to figure things out. I needed my space to figure things out. I wasn't gonna press him in that moment, but I did ask him at the end of the conversation, I said, sir, what? I said USA, then fight, fight, fight, only because I saw it, I saw.

And I said, why did you do that? He said, Selena, in that moment, I wasn't Donald Trump. I was representing the entirety of our country. Everything that our country symbolizes. It was my obligation to show strength, to show that the presidency goes on, it continues, that the presidency goes on, it continues, that the presidency represents the grit and exceptionalism that is our country,

and that we never back down no matter how much we get kicked, no matter what tries to take our country down. And I knew that I had an obligation to do that, not just because that's the obligation as a president, but I also knew I had an obligation for the people that were there. Had I not done that, they might likely have been chaos. There might likely have been a stampede. And he marvels that there wasn't. And he also says, I also had an obligation, if anybody's videoing it, if it's on camera, I don't know at this point,

I just know that it could have had, I handled that any differently. And he goes, and again, this is not about me. If I handled this any differently than what I am supposed to represent as the leader of the free world, there could have been chaos in the streets. And I see, we see that in him every day. Right. We don't we don't we don't think about that

nuance. We don't always agree with everything that he does. But this is a man with purpose. He understands why he was saved. And he understands that the country has changed because of what happened that day. Not that that that that event changed my view of him. I already liked him. I'd already voted for him multiple times. I've had the privilege of meeting him and interviewing him a couple of times every time I've enjoyed it, and I've thought very highly of him. But I learned something that under no other circumstance would I have been able to learn, which is he has immense courage under fire.

And very few people, God willing, will ever have to experience that. But for him to stand up and react that way, I was genuinely impressed by it. Did you in any way, did you have your view of him, maybe not changed, but affected by the events of July 13th? No, I kind of always knew that's who he was. I've covered him mostly through the eyes of the people in the middle of the country, but also I've interviewed him numerous times.

And this is something that people didn't pick up on. Also his sense of humor. I mean, there's a part in the book where he's chasing me around with hairspray. I mean, he's pretty freaking funny. But that strength, I always saw that in him. I wasn't surprised that he did that. I figured people would interpret it that he's like entertaining or he's, you know, he's trying to, you know, do that for himself. I didn't think that, you know, when you're shot, you have a newfound purpose and you survive it. And, and he, you know, he talks about the hand of God a lot in the book,

not just the next day, but throughout the rest of the campaign, I interviewed him. Okay. So on that front, tell me, did you, did you notice a change in him in terms of not just the next day, but throughout the rest of the campaign. I interviewed him a few times. So on that front, tell me, did you notice a change in him in terms of his sense of spirituality? Because it does seem to me that he's reached some sort of new depth as a result of that attack. Yeah. So we talked in October of, I think it was right before the election. Yeah. And we talked about that. And we, he and I also just talked two weeks ago about that.

And he said, you know, I survived lawfare and I really didn't think that would have anything to do with God. Right. I thought it was me. And then you get shot. And then someone dies coming to see you and brings your family there. That God is telling me something in that moment. Now, he might not be a guy who goes to church every Sunday,

but that's not often how people measure their faith and spirituality. It's not always about going to church. Now it is for me, you know, I'm someone that's in a pew every Sunday. I'm someone who says I'm rosary every morning. But for him, it's an obligation to God to live to his fullest potential and do the best thing for the country. And that has not left him. We talked about that in depth two weeks ago. And he knows me and he knows I can smell bullshit.

And he was, there was no, I'm sorry, I swore. I'm so sorry. You're allowed to do it. We're on, yeah, you're allowed to do that. I'm so sorry. No, you're good. No, you're perfectly good. But that's interesting. So two weeks ago, he told you,

if I understand you correctly, that he had looked back on all of the lawfare that was perpetuated against him. And he thought to himself, I thought that was me. I just thought that was me overcoming all of that. And now I detect that God played a huge role in that. Oh, he totally credits God. He totally, he doesn't, you know, it's not like,

well, maybe that's God. Like that's God for him. Like that was divine intervention, which are the exact words that he used. Yes. So then what follows logically is that God has a purpose for him that is not yet completed. Do you think he has a sense of what that purpose is?

To get the country on the right track. He feels that the country is on a very bad track and he is very cognizant about the clock is ticking. Not only, you know, only four years, but also you never know when you're going to go. He never expected to be shot in Butler, right? He never expected a guy to try to shoot him in Florida. He never expected Iran to have a continuous, continuously trying to take him out. Right? And so he's very cognizant that any day he could go,

any day. He has to use a squeeze out every second of every day and make it matter and make it purposeful. Okay. I can't let you go without asking one last question about Butler, which is, and I imagine this is something you cover in the book, which is how did the security failure occur that let that happen in the first place? And do you feel like we're anywhere close to getting the answers we deserve on that subject, and especially that the president

deserves on that subject? Yeah, I do think we're closer. I think we will see more and more things start to roll out. You already saw that some of these people were suspended. I suspect this is going to go further than that. Look, one of the biggest lessons learned in 9-11. Do you remember this? I don't know if you were you alive then.

Definitely. Okay, I didn't know how old you were. One of the lessons learned from 9-11, do you remember this? Oh, our agencies don't speak to each other. They don't communicate in lines, right? Right. That was basically the genesis behind developing Homeland Security, right? And building this new cabinet, this new, you know, part of the government. And the thing that they did, the thing that really was the fail point of Butler was they were not communicating. And then I don't know this, I'm speculating, But my experience has been with field men and women as opposed to, you know,

people in DC. You know, they don't make those decisions, the men and women that are on the ground. They only they, you know, they have to follow orders. And I think that it was criminal that they're not talking to the sheriffs and the cops and the local police, the men and women who grew up on this farmland, the men and women who protect and serve the people in this community, that they are not communicating with the people

who intuitively understand every inch of the area, that you just shut them out is is where our problem was. Yeah, they're the ones that found the guy. They're the ones that were saying they're the ones that kept saying, why isn't there someone on the roof? You know, and they saved his life and they saved President Trump's life. I've said this. I've said this since that day, which is if it wasn't for the Trump supporters, if it

wasn't for the residents of Butler, Pennsylvania, who were yelling about a shooter on the roof, which finally led to a local cop getting his head over the edge of the roof. And then Thomas Crooks taking rushed shots at the the president, instead of having a patient shot to take. That resulted in saving the life of the president of the United States. And again, it just plays into what you've been talking about, divine intervention that the president definitely detects. Selena Zito, go ahead and finish that thought. Give it to me. Absolutely. I think the book demonstrates so much about what happened that we didn't see after that in the campaign, but also it demonstrates what we're seeing right now

and helps us understand that. Yeah, amen. Well, thank you for helping us understand it. You were there and you wrote a great book about it. The book is called Butler. The author is Selena Zito. Selena, please have a nice weekend. Nice to talk to you today.

Thank you so much. There she is, Selena Zito. Our thanks as always to her. Thank you guys, the best damn audience in media for being with me today on Vince. I've got the big national radio show coming up later in the day. We've got 12 to three Eastern time.

You can find out your local radio listings on thevinchshow.com or watch us live. Major will be in the house. That's rumble.com slash Vince. Always so good to be with you. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I think God is watching us. Thank you for that.

The chat's wonderful. Selena's wonderful. Great time. Great time to be with you today. And keep your loved ones close, you know, give them a hug and say a prayer for how great our country is this weekend. One year since July 13th, that assassination attempt on President Trump.

And my prayers also to the comparator family, Corey Comparator, that great firefighter, gunned down that day. I know the president is gonna be thinking about him. I certainly will too. God bless you. Great to have you with us today. Appreciate you stopping by.