Donald Trump Jr. defends retweet of ‘assassination attempt’

by Rebecca Savransky - 11/07/16 3:54 PM ET

Donald Trump Jr. on Monday defended his decision to retweet on Saturday night a claim that his father, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, had survived an “assassination attempt” at a campaign rally.

{mosads}”I took heat for tweeting about it when I’m sitting there not knowing what’s going on — I’m following social media,” Trump Jr. said on the “Joyce Kaufman Show” on 850 WFTL, CNN reported.

“And major and credible news organizations saying, ‘There was a gun. There was a gun.’ I tweeted at the time.”

Trump Jr. said he was tweeting in real time about what was going on, adding he only knew what he saw.

“They’re saying I’m supposed to go back and erase things off of my Twitter feed. I don’t do that,” he said.

“I put it out there and then it’s out there, watching it for hours. I put it out there at the time, but other people were saying, ‘Hey, there was a gun.’ That’s all I knew.”

At a rally Saturday in Nevada, Secret Service agents rushed Trump off the stage after commotion in front of the stage.

The Secret Service issued a statement after the incident saying Trump was removed from the stage after an “unidentified individual shouted ‘gun.'”

“Secret Service agents and Reno Police Officers immediately apprehended the subject. Upon a thorough search of the subject and the surrounding area, no weapon was found,” the Secret Service said.

Trump Jr. after the incident retweeted a supporter who wrote that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton “ran away from rain today. Trump is back on stage minutes after an assassination attempt.”

During the interview Monday, Trump Jr. said it was a “bit nerve-wracking” when he found out what had happened.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton