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Politics reporter and longtime Trump watcher Maggie Haberman has said that the former president appears unusually anxious after two assassination attempts against him.
Haberman, senior political correspondent for The New York Times and a CNN commentator, has reported extensively on Trump since he took office in 2016, and has penned a book about his presidency. Haberman told CNN on Friday that she sensed anxiety in Trump during his Uniondale, New York rally earlier this week.
“Looking at his face is very telling because you see his eyes dart off to the right and he jerks his body, and he says it – that he thought that somebody was coming up to the stage,” Haberman, who attended the rally, said.
The journalist was referring to a moment when Trump became visibly startled on stage before telling his supporters he thought someone was coming toward him.
“I thought this was a wise guy coming up,” the former president said. “You know, I’ve got a little bit of a yip problem here. Right? That was amazing. I was all ready to start duking it out.”
Haberman said this response runs contrary to the image of “strength” Trump tries to project.
“This is clearly his reaction after what happened on Sunday when there was another apparent assassination attempt on him, the second in just over two months,” she told CNN. “And he is on edge. For him to say that he has ‘a yip problem,’ which is an acknowledgment of anxiety, is pretty unusual for a guy who likes to project strength at all times.”
“He and his campaign feel very under-seige,” she added. “They just feel as if they are under attack all the time in one way or another, and for a variety of reasons. There are physical threats. There are internet threats...It has clearly impacted how they are operating day to day.”
The Independent has contacted Trump’s campaign for comment.
The first attempt on Trump’s life came in July, when 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally. Crooks, who shot Trump in the ear, also killed one rally-goer and injured two others.
Last weekend, officers arrested Ryan Wesley Routh for allegedly aiming an SKS-style rifle through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the former president was playing.
Officials say Routh lurked in the bushes for nearly 12 hours before he was arrested.
Some in Trump’s circle are concerned he has post-traumatic stress disorder from the Butler shooting, an unnamed Republican close to the former president told Vanity Fair last month.
“He’s been watching that seven-second clip of how close he was to getting shot right in the head—over and over and over again,” the Republican said. “He may actually legit have PTSD.”
A campaign spokesperson told the magazine the shooting weighs heavily on Trump: “He’s been through a lot.”
