Trump Shuts Down Reporter Minutes After Shooting Outside White House: 'Do I Seem Rattled?'

Some reporters enjoy speculating about temperament with regard to presidential candidates.

It was something many of them cited constantly in 2016, before Donald Trump’s stunning victory over Hillary Clinton.

There was a narrative pushed by Democrats and media elites that Trump did not have the temperament to be president, nor was he capable of being presidential. 

But what kind of temperament do you want in a president, and what does “presidential” even mean?

“Presidential” was used as a buzzword four years ago to portray Trump, the plain-spoken outsider, as not having the character to lead the country. 

To be presidential, apparently, one must always say the right things — meaning the things the country’s activist media would like to hear.

Being presidential apparently also entails saying the kinds of things former President Barack Obama said in carefully crafted speeches, which were filled with the leftist rhetoric that excites activist reporters. 

Trump did not possess the qualities of a speaker who liberal media elites wanted in 2016, and he hasn’t shifted to become a master orator since his inauguration.

But what about his temperament?

Questioned about his disposition in 2016, Trump gave a very Trump-like response.

“I think I have the best temperament or certainly one of the best temperaments of anybody that’s ever run for the office of president. Ever,” he told a crowd on July 29, 2016, ABC News reported.

“Because I have a winning temperament. I know how to win,” he said. 

Trump doesn’t have to talk about temperament this time around.

He’s shown he has the right temperament since his first day on the job, but it’s nice to have a reminder that the man has a backbone, even in the midst of an unfortunate and tense situation. 

The president showed the world this week how he can handle a pressurized moment, and he did it calmly and with control and dignity.

Trump was whisked away from Monday’s media briefing at the White House by the U.S. Secret Service after a man reportedly attempted to charge at the perimeter.

Steadfast and calm, Trump left the room.

A man identified as 51-year-old Myron Berryman of Forestville, Maryland, allegedly charged at officers outside the White House and was shot twice in the torso, USA Today reported.

The Washington Post, quoting two law enforcement officials, said the suspect had shouted, “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to shoot you.”

The Post said Berryman was listed Tuesday in critical but stable condition at a local hospital.

The incident Monday evening was abrupt and shocking. But rather than call off the remainder of the briefing, Trump returned after officers had neutralized the threat outside.

The president actually was the one with the scoop when he came back, although little information was available at that point.

“There was an actual shooting, and somebody has been taken to the hospital. I don’t know the condition of the person,” Trump told reporters when he returned, according to an official White House transcript.

After calmly playing reporter for a few moments, Trump praised the officers who protect the White House.

“I feel very safe with the Secret Service. They’re fantastic people. They’re the best of the best, and they’re highly trained,” Trump said.

He then was asked by a reporter if he was “rattled” by the event.

“I don’t know; do I seem rattled?” he answered amiably.

“The world has always been a dangerous place. It’s not something that’s unique,” he said, brushing off the situation before he continued the briefing.

How’s that for temperament?

Trump isn’t auditioning for the job of president anymore, and the media isn’t asking him about his temperament this time around.

They don’t care anymore. They just want him defeated in November.

But his temperament was on full display for the activist reporters and everyone else who was watching Monday.

The man is under the constant threat of political attacks, foreign enemies, global and domestic disasters, contracting a foreign contagion, and tangible danger from potentially violent and imbalanced people, and yet he remains unshakable.

The media didn’t think he would win in 2016, so the issue of temperament was used as simply another method for an activist media to discredit a candidate who was, in their eyes, already a political afterthought.

But he won, and moments such as Monday’s show that Trump was and remains the right man to lead the country for the next four years.

President Trump doesn’t want you to live under the threat of political violence in your neighborhood, and he won’t be rattled by the same threat in his.