In news that should give both tomato-throwing protesters and his debate opponents pause, Donald Trump revealed to a French magazine that he always carries a gun on his person. The comment came in an interview with Valeurs Actuelles, which targets a very conservative audience in France.
His comments came in a discussion of the December terror attacks in Paris, where more than 120 people were killed and many more wounded by ISIS-inspired terrorists who targeted public spaces, including the Bataclan concert hall.
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“The only people who had weapons were the killers,” he said, calling it an “open bar for a massacre.”
He added: "I always carry a weapon on me. If I'd been at the Bataclan or one of those bars, I would have opened fire. Perhaps I would have died, but at least I would have taken a shot. The worst thing is the powerlessness to respond to those who want to kill you," he said.
Trump has previously revealed that he holds a concealed-carry permit, and has said that he sometimes carries a gun. The claim that he now carries a weapon at all times seems to be new. Trump has a Secret Service detail protecting him at all times.
The magazine’s cover features a picture of a gesticulating Trump, possibly at a campaign rally, with the headline “Trump Dit Tout” – Trump Tells All. It also carries a quote from the interview, in which Trump says to the people of Europe, “You’re going to be facing real revolutions.”
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Much of the interview focused on the question of immigration, which is roiling Europe as refugees from the carnage in Syria and other trouble spots in North Africa and the Middle East flood into the continent. France, in particular, has struggled with a large population of African immigrants, many of them Muslim, who have been both victims and perpetrators of violence and hate crimes.
Trump also pointed to Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy to Syrian refugees has led to both a deluge of asylum-seekers and massive public pushback.
“My German friends no longer know where they are. They can't believe their eyes about what is happening…they're desperate,” Trump said.
“What's happening in Europe can lead to its collapse. It's dramatic what she has allowed to happen, this flood,” he said, and predicted that if the problem is not addressed immediately, “then yes, it's the end of Europe.”
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The man who constantly promises that as president he would “Make America great again,” also seem to think that France needs the same treatment.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “France isn't what it was, nor Paris.”
