Ronald Reagan’s daughter has revealed how her family has changed following the attempted assassination of the 40th US president, just days after former President Donald Trump was nearly killed.
Patti Davis, 71, detailed the traumatic day John W. Hinckley Jr. shot her father, then 70, as he left the Washington Hilton hotel on March 30, 1981.
In an opinion piece for The New York TimesDavis said he was in therapy when he experienced “the longest day of his life” after hearing that his father had been shot with a .22-caliber revolver.
Although Reagan survived the assassination attempt, Davis said the event changed his family forever.
“Having a loved one shot changes you, regardless of whether that loved one is famous or not. It breaks you down in the first horrible, chaotic moments, and it reorganizes you in the days and years that follow,” she wrote.
Patti Davis, 71, explained how the day her father was nearly assassinated on March 30, 1981, changed her family forever. (Pictured: Ronald Reagan protected by Secret Service agents during the shooting)
“Having a loved one shot changes you, regardless of whether that loved one is famous or not. It breaks you down in the first horrible, chaotic moments, and it reorganizes you in the days and years that follow,” she wrote.
Reagan was saved by his top Secret Service agent, Tim McCarthy, who took a bullet for him, and by the medical staff at George Washington University Hospital.
He added that his late father, who died on June 5, 2004, after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s, thought he had been saved for a reason.
“My father believed that God spared him for a very specific reason: to end the Cold War with the Soviet Union and to try to reach some kind of nuclear weapons agreement,” Davis wrote.
Davis wrote directly to Trump’s family, explaining that she understands the shock they must be feeling in the days following the horrific incident.
“I don’t know where Donald Trump’s family members were when bullets were fired at his rally in Pennsylvania, wounding him, killing one attendee and seriously injuring two others,” she said. “I think I know the shock they are feeling.”
On Saturday night at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old registered Republican and Biden donor, opened fire on the presidential candidate.
Blood is seen coming from Donald Trump’s ear where he was shot on Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Registered Republican and Biden donor Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the presidential candidate. He was later killed by Secret Service agents.
Trump was hit in the ear by a bullet as Secret Service agents surrounded him for protection. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old retired Buffalo Township fire chief, was killed. Two other men are in critical condition.
Amid the ensuing chaos, Secret Service agents could be heard shouting “the shooter is down” and the gunman was later confirmed dead.
Davis explained that while there are a lot of security and planning details surrounding a president or candidate, they are still human.
“They are flesh and blood, they are human beings like the rest of us, and their lives can change in a fraction of a second. It only takes one bullet to make that clear.
‘That’s the other part of remembering your fragility as a human being: you remember that time is precious and that it’s imperative to use its gift in the most meaningful way possible.
“But it is impossible to predict how each individual will interpret this observation,” he added.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, McCarthy spoke about the recent assassination attempt on Trump compared to the one on Reagan in 1981.
He said Saturday’s shooting was a “mistake” that must be corrected “so that it doesn’t happen again.”
McCarthy admitted that he also considers the day Reagan was shot a failure.
“Because if a Secret Service protégé gets hurt, it’s not a victory, it’s a failure.”
He added: “There is no security anywhere in the world that is infallible.”
Davis explained that Trump’s near-assassination occurred at a time when the country is “much angrier and much more violent” than when his father was attacked.
Reagan was saved by his top Secret Service agent, Tim McCarthy, who took a bullet for him, and by the medical staff at George Washington University Hospital. (Pictured: McCarthy and Press Secretary James Brady on the ground after being shot.)
“I don’t know if this event will soften any of that. I don’t know if the Trump family will have the same experience I had: of a nation putting politics aside and just responding in a humane and compassionate way.
“I also don’t know if or how this experience will change Mr. Trump,” he said.
She specifically remembers “the America that enveloped” her family after Reagan was shot, and hopes that same response can be found again in America.
On Sunday, Trump’s wife Melania broke her silence on her husband’s shooting.
The former first lady called the gunman a “monster” and described the moment she saw the bullet hit her husband’s ear at the rally in front of thousands of his adoring fans.
The former first lady called the gunman a “monster” and described the moment she saw the bullet hit her husband’s ear at the rally in front of thousands of his adoring fans. (Pictured: Trump, Melania and their son Barron in 2017)
“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to play on Donald’s passion – his laughter, his wit, his love of music and his inspiration,” Melania said in an emotional statement on X.
“When I watched that vicious bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized that my life and Barron’s life were on the brink of a devastating change. I am grateful to the brave Secret Service agents and law enforcement officers who risked their own lives to protect my husband.”
The former first lady urged people to “come together” and said she is thinking of her fellow Americans.
“This morning, rise above the hate, vitriol and simplistic ideas that fuel violence,” his statement continued.
‘The winds of change have arrived. To those who cry in support, I thank you. I congratulate those who have stepped forward across the political divide: thank you for remembering that every politician is a man or woman with a loving family.’