Donald Trump’s call with Robert F. Kennedy after assassination attempt leaked

Donald Trump (left) and Senator J.D. Vance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo / Getty Images

• Local police who were assigned by the Secret Service to help spot threats in the crowd at Donald Trump’s rally were inside the building where a gunman positioned himself on the roof to shoot at him.
• Yesterday, Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention with a bandage over his right ear.
• Who is Donald Trump’s new running mate J.D. Vance?

Donald Trump compared the bullet that grazed his ear in a failed assassination attempt to the “world’s largest mosquito” in a leaked phone call.

The Republican discussed the attempt on his life with Robert F. Kennedy, in what appeared to be a charm offensive to secure the independent candidate’s endorsement as he seeks to regain the presidency.

Trump also echoed Kennedy’s well-known vaccine scepticism, claiming that babies were being given “massive” vaccine cocktails that caused “radical” changes, and told him that his re-election “would be so good for you”.

It comes after Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old gunman, attempted to shoot the former President as he addressed a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

“It felt like a giant, the world’s largest mosquito,” Trump told Kennedy, whose father, Bobby Kennedy, and uncle, former US president John F. Kennedy, were fatally shot in the 1960s.

Referring to Crooks’ AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, he added: “That’s a big gun. Pretty tough guns, right?”

Trump appeared to suggest that he would “love” Kennedy’s support. Those present for the discussion have reportedly said the Republican was seeking his endorsement for his re-election bid.

“I think it would be so good for you and so big for you, and we’re going to win. We’re going to win – we’re way ahead of the guy,” Trump continued, referring to Joe Biden, the US President.

Kennedy is polling around 9% in the presidential race, and his endorsement of a candidate would have a significant impact in an election where the margins are extremely tight. Trump has opened up a two-point lead over Biden since the Democrat’s dire debate performance last month.

‘Something wrong with vaccination system’

Seemingly in an attempt to win over the independent candidate, Trump claimed that there was “something wrong with that whole system” of vaccination.

The topic is close to Kennedy’s heart, and he has previously criticised the former President’s rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine during his time in the White House.

“When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 vaccinations and it looks like it’s bred for a horse, not a 10-pound or 20-pound baby,” Trump said.

Trump, who has previously called the development of the Covid-19 vaccine a “miracle”, continued: “Then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically. I’ve seen it too many times. And then you hear that it doesn’t have an impact, right?”

Kennedy, who said on Monday that he had discussed “national unity” with Trump, said he was “mortified” by the leak and apologised to the former President.

“When President Trump called me, I was taping with an in-house videographer. I should have ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately,” he said.

Joe Costello, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, accused “Trump and his anti-vax bud ‘Bobby’” of “spreading dangerous conspiracy theories”.

“This leaked footage is further proof Trump can’t be trusted to protect Americans’ healthcare,” he added.