I Was Four Feet Away When I Heard the Bullets

As soon as he saw me, he shook my hand. 

It was that thing that all electeds do—the familiarity, the warmth, or the faux-warmth—but he’s better. It feels like he means it.

“Salena, it’s so great to see you. How are you doing? How are all those grandkids?”

Donald Trump always remembers my grandkids. I have four. Last time I talked to him, over the phone in the spring, I told him about my latest, Rocco. He replied, “I love my grandkids, too. I love being around them.” 

It was just before six o’clock on Saturday when he greeted me. He was about to go onstage for a rally about 50 miles from my hometown of Pittsburgh. Inside the tent with me were forty local cops—men and women.