Ronald Reagan’s daughter has revealed how her family changed following the assassination attempt of the 40th president of the United States- 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 was leaving the Washington Hilton hotel on March 30, 1981.
In an op-ed for The New York Times, Davis said she was in therapy when ‘the longest day of her life’ took place after hearing that her dad was shot with a .22-caliber revolver.
Although Reagan survived the attempt on his life, Davis said that the event has forever changed her family.
‘Having a loved one shot changes you, regardless of whether that loved one is famous. It unravels you in the first horrible, chaotic moments, and it rearranges you in the days and years afterward,’ she wrote.
Reagan was saved by his lead Secret Service agent, Tim McCarthy, who took a bullet for him, and medical staff at George Washington University Hospital.
She added that her late father- who died on June 5, 2004, after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s- thought that he was 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, to try to reach some kind of agreement on nuclear weapons,’ Davis wrote.
Davis wrote directly to Trump’s family, explaining that she understands the shock they must be feeling in the days after the horrific incident.
‘I don’t know where Donald Trump’s family members were when bullets were fired at his Pennsylvania rally, injuring him, killing one attendee and seriously injuring two others,’ she said. ‘I think I do know the shock that they’re feeling.’
At a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening 20-year-old registered Republican and Biden donor, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire on the presidential candidate.
A bullet struck Trump in the ear as Secret Service agents circled around to shield him. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old retired fire chief for Buffalo Township, was killed. Two other men were left in critical condition.
Secret Service agents could be heard shouting ‘the shooter is down’ in the ensuing chaos and the gunman was later confirmed dead.
Davis explained that even though there is a lot of security detail and planning around a president or candidate, they are still human.
‘They are flesh and blood, they are human beings just like the rest of us, and their lives can change in a split second. It takes only one bullet to bring that fact home.
‘That’s the other part of being reminded of your fragility as a human being: You are reminded that time is precious and it’s imperative to use its gift in the most meaningful way you can.
‘But how any individual interprets that realization is impossible to predict,’ she added.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, McCarthy spoke about the recent assassination attempt on Trump in comparison to Reagan’s in 1981.
He explained that the shooting on Saturday was a ‘failure’ that has to be corrected ‘so it doesn’t happen again.’
McCarthy admitted that he also considers the day Reagan was shot to be a failure.
‘Because if a protectee of the Secret Service is injured, it’s not a victory, it’s a failure.’
He added: ‘There is no security anywhere in this world that is fool-proof.’
Davis explained that Trump’s near-assassination occurred during a time where the country is ‘far more angry and far more violent’ than it was when her dad was attacked.
‘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 did — that of a nation setting politics aside and simply responding in a human and humane way.
‘I also don’t know how, or if, this experience will change Mr. Trump,’ she said.
She specifically remembers the ‘America that wrapped itself’ around her family after Reagan was shot, and she hopes that same response can be found again in the US.
On Sunday Trump’s wife Melania broke her silence on the shooting of her husband.
The former first lady called the gunman a ‘monster’ and described the moment she watched the bullet strike her husband’s ear at the rally in front of thousands of his adoring fans.
‘A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion – his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,’ Melania said in an emotional statement on X.
‘When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change. I am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband.’
The former first lady called for people to ‘reunite’ and said she is thinking of her fellow Americans.
‘This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence,’ her statement continued.
‘The winds of change have arrived. For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide – thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.’