Trump’s campaign denied saying that the former president purchased a Glock handgun during a campaign event in South Carolina on Monday.
Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, shared a since-deleted video on social media in which Trump was shown the weapon and said, “I want to buy one.”
The statement that Trump bought the semi-automatic gun was made in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
NBC News was later informed by Trump’s campaign that he did not actually complete the purchase.
Inquiries concerning his post from CNBC were unanswered by Cheung.
Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has been charged in four different criminal cases this year.
Indictees are prohibited from purchasing firearms by federal law.
However, in September 2022, a federal judge in Texas declared that statute to be unconstitutional. In that conclusion, the court noted a Supreme Court decision that had earlier that year overturned a New York gun ban, bringing into question a number of gun control legislation.
In all, 91 felonies are charged against Trump in these four cases. He has entered a not-guilty plea to each accusation.
The brief video was recorded by Cheung while on an impromptu campaign visit at Summerville, South Carolina’s Palmetto State Armory.
In it, Trump ogles the firearm that the individual sitting next to him is holding.
“Wow,” Trump says in the video as he points to the gun.
“I’ve got to buy one. I want to buy one,” he says.
After the individual in possession of the pistol responds briefly, Trump responds once more, “No, I want to buy one.”
Every year, hundreds of Americans lose their lives as a result of gun-related tragedies. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun-related injuries are the leading cause of death for kids and teenagers.
The most recent year for which such data is available from the CDC is 2021, which had a total of 48,830 gun deaths. It was the most gun fatalities the United States has ever seen.
