Former President Donald Trump said in a sworn deposition that he was concerned about protesters throwing potentially deadly fruit at him.
WHAT HE SAID
In audio from the October 2021 deposition, released Tuesday, Trump defended remarks he made at a 2016 rally encouraging supporters to “knock the crap out of” any protesters who might throw tomatoes at him.
- “Is it your expectation that if your security guards see someone about to throw a tomato that they should knock the crap out of them?” asked a lawyer for a group of protesters who sued Trump, alleging his security guards assaulted them in 2015.
- “Yeah, I think that they have to be aggressive in stopping that from happening,” Trump replied. “To stop somebody from throwing pineapples, tomatoes, bananas, stuff like that, yeah.”
- Of his “knock the crap out of” them comment, Trump explained, “It was said sort of in jest. But maybe, you know, a little truth to it. It’s very dangerous stuff. You can get killed with those things.”
MEANWHILE
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron narrowly avoided being pelted with tomatoes at a market northwest of Paris during his first public appearance since being re-elected.
- His body guards protected him.
