President Donald Trump took a small jab at Vice President JD Vance on Monday, describing him as a “little boy,” while retelling the chaos that unfolded at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last month.
“They had great professional people, and they came out, and within seconds, I saw them take JD by the shoulders and lift him up like he was a little boy,” Trump said, praising his Secret Service and its chief, Sean Curran, at a Police Week dinner hosted at the White House Rose Garden.
“I said, ‘How come they didn’t lift me up so fast?’ JD got ripped out of the chair, that was the view of the week,” he continued.
Trump’s remarks came weeks after a viral video of the April 25 shooting showed Secret Service agents rushing toward the main stage table and grabbing Vance by the shoulders to escort him out before the president.
“And I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem,” he told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell in April.
Cole Allen, a 31-year-old California engineer, was arrested in connection to the shooting, and charged with attempting to assassinate the president and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. He pleaded not guilty on Monday.
Trump thanked Curran in his remarks the same day.
“I thought you did a great job two weeks ago. You know why? Because I’m here,” he said. “We consider being here a success.”