By Steve Holland
LITITZ, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -Republican Donald Trump complained to supporters on Sunday about gaps in the bullet-proof glass surrounding him as he spoke and mused that an assassin would have to shoot through the news media to get him, adding, "I don't mind that so much."
In a meandering 90-minute rally speech two days before Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, Trump noted that there were gaps in the panes of glass around him. Some of the members of the press following Trump at the event in Lititz, Pennsylvania, had a sight line through one of the gaps.
The former president has escaped two attempted assassinations this year, including being grazed in the ear by a gunman's bullet during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Surveying the gaps, Trump said: "To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news and I don't mind that so much."
Trump's rhetoric has become increasingly unrestrained in the campaign's final weeks. Arizona's top prosecutor on Friday opened an investigation after Trump suggested prominent Republican critic, former congresswoman Liz Cheney, should face gunfire in combat.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement after the media remarks. He said Trump was looking out for the media's safety.
"The president’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the media being harmed, or anything else. It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats," the statement said.
A source familiar with internal Trump campaign dynamics said Trump's comment about the media was not planned and noted that he often makes ad lib statements.
Trump personally requested the statement that Cheung issued, the source said.
Trump spent a considerable amount of his speech attacking the news media at the rally, at one point gesturing to TV cameras and saying, "ABC, it's ABC, fake news, CBS, ABC, NBC. These are, these are, in my opinion, in my opinion, these are seriously corrupt people."