CBS Reporter ‘Traumatized’ by Trump Rally Crowd’s Hostility After Assassination Attempt
No, MacFarlane did not fear that a second gunman would suddenly open fire on the crowd. He was terrified that the attendees — the MAGA crowd — were going to kill him.
I get it. Most members of the legacy media have reached the end stages of Trump Derangement Syndrome and it takes a lot for one of them to actually surprise us anymore. But the story that CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane recounted to former MSNBC host Chuck Todd on Thursday’s edition of The Chuck ToddCast podcast was a doozy.
MacFarlane, who was covering President Donald Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally last July, told Todd he was diagnosed with PTSD within 48 hours of the assassination attempt. No, MacFarlane did not fear that a second gunman would suddenly open fire on the crowd. He was terrified that the attendees — the MAGA crowd — were going to kill him and the other members of the legacy media. He could see it “in their eyes,” he said.
“For those of us there, it was such a horror, because you saw an emerging America,” MacFarlane said. “I got diagnosed with PTSD within 48 hours. I got put on trauma leave. Not because, I think, of the shooting, but because you could — you saw it in the eyes, the reaction of the people.”
“They [MAGA supporters] were coming for us. If he [Trump] didn’t jump up with his fist, they were going to come kill us,” he added. MacFarlane was referring to the moment after the shooting when Trump stood up, pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Shaking his head back and forth, Todd replied, “I know.”
🚨NEW: CBS News correspondent Scott MacFarlane tells Chuck Todd he got "PTSD" after Trump assassination attempt — *NOT* from the shooting, but because the crowd blamed the media🚨
"For those of us there, it was such a horror."
"I got diagnosed with PTSD within 48 hours. I got… pic.twitter.com/JYeA7FZ90G
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) July 16, 2025
In the extended clips from the interview below, Todd recounts being on a flight to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the time of the assassination attempt. The plane was filled with members of the media. He said “it might as well have been a press charter.” Jake Tapper and Kellyanne Conway were also on board.
Todd explained that the plane’s Wi-Fi was not working. “When we touch down and everybody’s phones come on … everybody’s just looking at each other, not saying a word, for total fear of anything being misconstrued.”
Todd said, “Look, let’s be honest, we’ve been fearing this for about a decade. That all of this heightened rhetoric, all of this crap online, what happened on Jan. 6 … we’re a tinderbox. There’s a fear that this moment is coming.”
“The fact that we dodged that, you’re right, I don’t know what would have happened had the outcome been different.”
MacFarlane interjected to say, “Many of us on press row — because we talked about this on our text chains for weeks after — were quite confident we’d be dead if he didn’t get back up.
“There was a subset — not everybody — there’s dozens of people in the crowd who started coming for us saying, ‘You did this. This is your fault. You caused this. You killed him.'” MacFarlane and his media brethren thought the attendees were about to “beat us with their hands.”
“They were going to kill us,” MacFarlane said. “When he [Trump] jumped up triumphantly, it saved us.”
At any rate, to this day, McFarlane claimed, “I can’t eliminate from my mind’s eye the look in their faces. That’s what America is right now. It’s not rational.”
CBS's Scott MacFarlane claims that after Trump was shot "I got diagnosed with PTSD within 48 hours. I got put on trauma leave, not because, I think, of the shooting, but because, you could, you saw it in the eyes, the reaction of the people. They were coming for us. If he didn't… pic.twitter.com/MfrQxN9mvh
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 17, 2025
Todd also claims “We’ve been fearing this for about a decade. That all of this heightened rhetoric, that what all this crap online, what happened on January 6, those of us that experienced that as well, you’re like, we’re a tinderbox, right?”MacFarlane adds, “When he jumped up… pic.twitter.com/6YHj9Q19iP
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 17, 2025
First, I find it extraordinary that such outrageous behavior from MAGA supporters went unreported for an entire year.
Second, I actually agree with Scott MacFarlane that America has become irrational. But let me be clear — it’s not the entire country. The irrationality is concentrated in the progressive half of the political spectrum. Just ten years ago, many of the positions now proudly embraced by Democrats were considered fringe or absurd. Not even Bernie Sanders was openly advocating free healthcare for illegal immigrants. Gender ideology was a niche issue—now it’s mainstreamed, enforced, and untouchable.
We’re told men can become women, and asking simple questions like “What is a woman?” is considered hateful. Voter ID laws are smeared as racist, despite overwhelming support across racial and political lines. This isn’t progress; it’s delusion masquerading as virtue.
So while MacFarlane aims his criticism at the MAGA crowd, perhaps he should take a personal inventory. Because when nearly 80 million Americans are staring back at him in disbelief, maybe the real irrationality lies a little closer to his side of the aisle.
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CBS has employee issues. I can now see why they have fired Colbert.
“He was terrified that the attendees — the MAGA crowd — were going to kill him and the other members of the legacy media. He could see it “in their eyes,” he said.”
Retarded. If it was a MAGA crowd that wanted him dead, he’d be dead.
Not to worry, Scott… we aren’t like your Democrat shock troops. You were perfectly safe.
There may come a time, however, where that’s no longer true.
Not today, @steve59, not today.
The time will come, and it won’t be pretty, but not today.
Nope, not today.
It’s coming, though.
They simply won’t leave us alone.
They can’t leave people alone. It’s not in their nature.
MacFarlane could probably smell the danger he was in,
“So let’s discuss a text that hits home for me,” Goodlatte said. “On August 26, 2016, you texted Ms. Page ‘Just went to a Southern Virginia Walmart. I could smell the Trump support.’ And smell is in capital letters, all capital letters. What does Trump support smell like Mr. Strzok?”
https://www.newsweek.com/peter-strzok-trump-smell-hillbillies-1020892
Since no TV reporters were injured I think a little projection was going on. PTSD? You have got to be joking me. This is a glaring example of a man who has lived his entire life in a bubble.
” There may come a time….” Does “never let a good idea go to waste” apply here?
Wow, talk about projection!
The fear is real with progressives. And it should be.
Back before cell phones, real men would have said, “what a faggot.”
That or up in our neck of the woods “a gay homo”
I was thinking about “wuss.”
.
Candy-a$$.
Sniveler.
Cry-baby.
Poozer comes to mind
As opposed to a serious homo?
;-{)}}}
Or a morose one.
(My GF and I have a running joke about a Japanese restaurant “Morose Teriyaki.”)
Not many people up my way could pronounce frivolous homo much less know what that meant. If you insult someone and they are just puzzled it takes the fizz out of it.
I hereby nominate Mr. MacFarlane for the 2025 David Hogg Remote Victim Testicular Absence Award.
You’re on your own to imagine what the award might look like.
What a chickensh*t.
It wasn’t like CBS had been hostile and complicit in ginning up Leftist anger and hate to do harm to Trump…oh..wait…
CBS still holds the honor of giving shade to the communists in the government (Edward R Morrow) and delivering a political victory to a battlefield defeated army and nation (Walter Cronkite).
When the government fears the citizens, then we have real freedom.
When the press fears the citizens, then we have real freedom.
Today, our “elected representatives” believe they are our masters. We are no longer represented, we are controlled by lies from our “elected” masters and their propagandists.
Bruh, please stop equating minor and momentary unease with actual danger. The fact that you were worried about a crowd fed up with your media lies, distortions, selective editing and selective choices of what is ‘newsworthy’ to craft a preferred narrative instead of straight, objective reporting should have told you the real problem. It ain’t the public, it is you.
Typical of the political left: Making everything all about them.
“I am a ‘victim;’ hear me whine.”
As a mental health professional, I’d like to point out that you can’t be diagnosed with PTSD after 48 hours. It’s a prolonged stress condition, not an acute one which is why it’s such a challenging condition to live with. After 48 hours you can’t be diagnosed with anything not even acute stress disorder. Having a reaction to severe stressors is called being normal; it’s what happens to everyone. This dude is just using mental health conditions he doesn’t have and doesn’t understand to make himself the victim.
My first thought. My second was what a coward. Didn’t bother having a third.
So there are 2 possibilities.
1) He’s lying about having been diagnosed.
2) Whoever “diagnosed” him was immensely incompetent.
I lean heavily toward number 1.
Lying is what they do. They live in mortal fear of the truth coming up and slapping them upside the head.
Yup. My first thought was give us the physician’s name and a copy of anything documenting the diagnosis. I suspect he was ‘diagnosed” by his husband,
His wife’s boyfriend diagnosed him.
No, MacFarlane did not fear that a second gunman would suddenly open fire on the crowd. He was terrified that the attendees — the MAGA crowd — were going to kill him….MacFarlane interjected to say, “Many of us on press row — because we talked about this on our text chains for weeks after — were quite confident we’d be dead if he didn’t get back up.
Perhaps MacFarlane was laying bare the truth that the press corps had great contempt for Trump and his supporters, and was afraid that contempt was going to be reciprocated.
As Mr. MacFarlane witnessed the assassination attempt at Butler, I doubt that Mr. MacFarlane believed the assassination attempt was staged. A substantial proportion of the electorate believed the assassination attempt was staged.
One in Three Biden Supporters Think Trump Shooting Might Have Been Staged
What does Mr. MacFarlane think of those people who believe the assassination attempt was staged?
Do those people think the fatality and 2 serious injuries were also staged?
Collateral damage.
they would have bought the ammo for the pos
If he sees a head shrink, his trauma will be reduced.
“When he [Trump] jumped up triumphantly, it saved us.”
No, it saved the country!
An extraordinary statement. In a single short sentence, a lefty journalists credits Trump with being “triumphant” and heroic.
We haven’t been so close to a Civil War since Lincoln was in office.
“That’s what America is right now. It’s not rational”
What it is is many years of just plain fed up.
According to Mike Benz, our own deep state has been working a psyops campaign against the American people. He has discussed this on various venues, including Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Russell Brand. The techniques used to influence foreign elections, instigate color revolutions, etc have been turned inward. This campaign has driven a lot of people into an extreme form of TDS. I think this explains MacFarlane’s decent into irrational paranoia about Trump supporters. Some of my own friends, normally conservative and very sensible surprise me with tinges of this kind of paranoia. Nothing nearly as extreme as what we see happening to MacFarlane. I think this guy, and many of his colleagues are losing their grip on reality, and need to take a break from the chaos. Go have some fun.
MacFarlane us absolutely right. It’s not rational. MacFarlane reaction that is.
Poor cupcake. Give him some coloring books and a cup of hot cocoa and he’ll be fine. Or not. Doesn’t matter. Who cares!
Where is R. Lee Ermey when we need him? Geez, what a jackwagon.
“there’s dozens of people in the crowd who started coming for us”
Video, or it didn’t happen, you damn snowflake.
So, in the very few seconds after Trump fell and before he forced his way back to his feet, MAGA folks turned on the media morons? No, they didn’t. Like everyone else, they were shocked and stunned.
However, AFTER Trump was spirited away, there were people who loudly upbraided the press for their complicity; there is video of that.
Probably it was those men yelling mean things that gave poor baby his trauma.
I’ve seen video of the crowd remaining relatively calm after the shooting. Typically, you’d expect the “flight” response to kick in. If that had happened, then it could have led to people being injured or dying in a stampede of people frantically trying to escape.
I’ve seen video of the crowd trying to give aid to the guy shot and killed by the assassin – and them waving and summoning medical professionals to come give the guy professional assistance.
After Trump was whisked away, I do remember seeing a short video of three or four guys turning toward the media to shout at them and give them the finger. I suppose it is possible that had Trump been assassinated, they could have worked themselves into a murderous frenzy and gone after the media. Seems highly unlikely, even illogical, to assume that is the most likely outcome.
The problem is he asserts it so confidently to be construed as certain. But he can’t predict the future based on a hypothetical counter-factual.
He’s unwittingly demonstrating why we hate the media so much. They just can not stick to the known, indisputable facts.
The stampeding, panicked crowd trampling people is a Hollywood thing. So long as there are no bottlenecks for escape, crowds do not behave that way.
he’s definitely got a “punch me!” face
Don’t most of them?
It wasn’t in the eyes of anyone there. I doubt he was actually close enough to the hoi polloi to see their eyes.
It was his and his associates guilty conscience knowing the hate and rage baiting they had spent 8 years pushing and the fact that they did indeed hold some responsibility for the shooter taking his shot.
Weakness on steroids. Imagine this guy up against a got-away.
Oz would have described him as “a pusillanimous creature”.
Don’t get me excited.
Jeez, does his wife let him borrow his testicles on special occasion?
Technically, they’re not his.
I heard this yesterday and I’m still shaking my head. These two soulless, self absorbed progs stroking each other’s ego and talking about their fear of wild eyed MAGA’s. PTSD? Are you that weak? You had a 2 minute experience. You can’t have PTSD without prolonged exposure to stress. If you didn’t hate the lsm before you can now.
My son was in The Sandbox (Iraq) twice and The Rock Pile (Afghanistan) once. I’ve seen his struggle with genuine PTSD over the years and I hurt for him, knowing I could only listen to him. The VA finally got him with a doctor who put him on a good regimen of therapy and medication allowing him to function well. Also, my father was in North Africa and Italy during World War 2 and resorted to self medication to deal with his memories. With the help of Almighty God, our minister, and friends he was able to deal with it pretty well. I’ve often wondered what a conversation between my son and my late father would sound like.
These guys wouldn’t know PTSD if it slapped them in the face. What an unfunny joke.
.
It is trivializing real the experience of people who truly have PTSD. It is just another thing that make people like this despicable.
The snowflakes “get PTSD” when someone tells them the shake machine is broken.
The left celebrates weakness. Can you imagine what men who fought in the trenches of WW1 or stormed the beaches of Normandy in WW2 would think of this pathetic little creampuff? I was recently reading an account of the island-hopping campaign of WW2 in the Pacific, and the horror of it was unbelievable. This guy gets put on “trauma leave” after a crowd is mean to him.
After he imagines that a crowd used their ANGRY Eyes on him.
That has he attended a protest rally? You know those with fire, knives, etc?
can you imagine a guy like this carrying?–concealed or otherwise–lord–he’d likely have shot a few innocent bystanders in his delirium–on the other hand, if he’d pulled a weapon someone might have dropped HIS ass and spared him (and us) the fallout from his “ptsd”
practically ZERO sa–he’s the type of person that should never carry a firearm
No worry. He’s the type of person who would swoon if he touched such a Tool of Death. Poor guy.
.
He got PTSD and learned nothing
President Nearly Killed
Reporters Hardest Hit
Yeah, that’s their take on it, summarized.
The contemptible malignant narcissism, greasy self-aggrandizement and dishonest faux victimhood-posturing of contemporary Dhimmi-crats are perfectly exemplified by this “reporter” idiot.
Spare me. What a weakling. No wonder we have a shortage of males
Spare me. What a weakling. No wonder we have a shortage of males
No, we have plenty of males. Just a stortage of men.
.
So Pres. Trump had just been shot and all MacFarlane could think was that the “MAGA crowd” (whatever that is) was going to kill him, Amazing, just amazing how self-important this guy thinks he is. Most likely the “MAGA crowd” wasn’t even paying attention to the guy at that point and was attempting to see if Trump was still alive. But nope, it’s got to be all about this precious little snowflake and his fake victimhood diagnosis. Disgusting. Simply disgusting.
Had Trump died, I wouldn’t have bet on the survival of the press, or the Republic.
OMG, what a pansy….a Nancy Boy far left winger. The real reason he was traumatized was because the attempted murder on Trump failed. Now, he runs to the media to cry, and show the world he is a victim. “I could see it in their eyes’, said the soy boy. And yet, not one of them was touched by anyone. Just more leftist lies, more crying, and more desperately seeking victim status. Cry more, little man.