President Donald Trump's strange comment on the two assassination attempts he faced before his return to office raised serious concerns for Maggie Haberman, she admitted Friday.
Haberman told New York Times colleague Ezra Klein on Friday the sequence of events before the 2024 election has led Trump to make questionable connections in his mind — as the comment proved.
First, Haberman detailed the facts.
"A Pakistani man was indicted in connection with a murder-for-hire plot who was allegedly engaged by Iran — this was a proxy," Haberman explained.
"But the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., happens after that, where Trump was shot, and it was a galvanizing moment for the campaign."
Now, said Haberman, "All of that in his mind becomes one big blur."
Trump's blur also contains vague knowledge of Iran's hacking attempt, which occurred about the same time, said Haberman.
"Iran had successfully hacked the Trump campaign manager’s emails — Susie Wiles’s," she said. "Iran, according to officials, was behind it. And they started releasing them, and that was hugely embarrassing to the entire campaign. It also added to this sense of siege that they all have."
Haberman then pointed to Trump's interview with ABC News’s chief Washington correspondent at the beginning of this war and named the comment that bothered her.
"Trump said something to Jon Karl that I don’t think I’ve heard him say since as a repeat, but it was: 'They tried to get me twice.' I’m paraphrasing, but it was: 'I got them once. They tried to get me twice.'"
"Whatever he’s referring to, I don’t exactly know, in terms of the twice, but it tells you what his mind-set is."