The Trump campaign has retracted a claim made on Monday that former President Donald Trump purchased a Glock handgun during a campaign stop in South Carolina.
A now-deleted video, initially posted on social media by Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, showed Trump saying he wants to buy the firearm, and had the caption “President Trump purchases a @GLOCKInc in South Carolina!”
Trump, who is currently the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is facing indictment in four separate criminal cases with a total of 91 felony accounts. Federal law typically prohibits individuals under indictment from acquiring firearms.
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The post was up for about two hours and viewed at least 1.6 million times on the platform formerly known as Twitter before it was deleted. The campaign later said that Trump did not ultimately complete the purchase.
The short video was recorded at Palmetto State Armory, a Summerville, South Carolina gun store, during an unplanned campaign visit. In the video, Trump is seen admiring a handgun held by an individual beside him.
“Wow,” the video recorded Trump saying as he pointed to the gun that had his face and the American flag printed on the side. “I’ve got to buy one. I want to buy one,” he said.
While the campaign, possibly after they were made aware of 18 U.S.C. 922, later backtracked and denied that Trump bought the weapon, the particular Glock in question has now been marked out of stock. Commenters point out that the gun was not one of a kind.
Reporter Brian Glenn, went on live TV to claim that he was right behind Trump at the store and clearly said that he “can confirm that President Trump got that gun today.” Hours later, Glenn backtracked and called out the media for spreading “fake news.”
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