“Knowing that someone went to such lengths to try to assassinate President Trump, and having witnessed it firsthand, how do you prepare for that?” Broussard said.
BEAUMONT, Texas — Vanessa Broussard, a journalist from southeast Texas, says she was just 30 yards from the podium when the first shots rang out at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening.
Broussard previously said he always felt comfortable covering political events.
“Knowing that someone went to such lengths to try to assassinate President Trump, and having witnessed it firsthand, how do you prepare for that?” Broussard said.
After witnessing the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Broussard crawled to a microphone to tell viewers what was happening.
“Breaking news. We have breaking news. We’re hearing gunshots. It appears we’ve heard gunshots at the Trump rally,” Broussard announced over the chaos.
Broussard said stepping up to the microphone was simply a reflex honed over years of reporting.
“I didn’t even think about it, I just picked up my phone and called my loved ones, then picked up the microphone to let people watching live at home know that this was happening. It was a natural reaction to report it,” Broussard said.
Broussard has covered Trump rallies for more than two years and said she has always felt safe.
“The Secret Service and police do a great job keeping the crowds, the media and everybody safe, and that was no different yesterday,” Broussard said.
So she was shocked when she heard gunfire at the rally on Saturday.
“All of a sudden we heard a pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, and then everything went quiet and President Trump fell to the ground,” Broussard said.
While in hiding, she saw Secret Service agents surrounding Trump.
“The Secret Service was on him and I was crouching down and I never took my eyes off him because I didn’t know if he’d been shot,” Broussard recalled.
Broussard said the brief seconds it took for Trump to stand felt like 30 minutes.
“When he did that fist pump, the crowd rose to their feet and cheered, and all I could say was, ‘Thank you God, thank you God,’ and right after that, nobody knew if the gunfight was going to continue,” Broussard said.
Broussard explained his interpretation of the fist pump.
“Are there going to be another assassination attempt? If so, he’s telling us what to do if something happens to me. I urge you all to keep fighting,” Broussard said.
Broussard believes the shooting marks the start of tougher security measures at future presidential campaign events.
