In a somewhat unorthodox but heartwarming moment during President Trump’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the President allowed a reporter to tell her story of a violent robbery that left her beaten and scarred and could have taken her life in Washington, DC, during the Biden Administration.
NTD White House correspondent Iris Tao was previously mugged at gunpoint and beaten by a masked assailant in broad daylight outside her DC apartment.
While touting his successful crime initiative and federalization of the DC police department on Tuesday, the President decided to recognize the young woman to tell her story.
“Ever since, I’ve never dared to walk in the street of DC at night ever, and my family was extremely worried. So, Mr. President, thank you so much for what you’re doing right now because such incidents involve not just me, but also my family,” she told the President.
“If he had shot me, I could have died right there in the middle of nowhere without my family or my friends knowing at the age of, back then, I think 23, just starting my career here in DC, without even starting a family. But now I’m very blessed to have this opportunity.”
Tao further told the President that ever since he sent in the National Guard and took control of the city, she feels “a lot safer.” She added, “I’m hopeful about DC again, and one day, hopefully, we can raise our family here.”
Across the entire city, there has been a noticeable change. Where there were once homeless vagrants, tweakers, and thugs on street corners all over the capital, it is now safe to walk without fear of being assaulted, harassed, robbed, or murdered.
“I heard you were very savagely mugged in the city, and we’re not going to let that happen under this administration,” Trump said before asking Iris to tell her horrifying story.
The President later noted, “it’s really amazing that you weren’t shot.”
Watch the full exchange below:
Tao: Thank you for having me here to share my story to the room and to the broader public. My name is Iris Tao. I’m a White House correspondent for NTD, the sister media of the Epoch Times. So, more than two years ago, it was a Saturday morning in broad daylight. I was on my way to work, and a young man with a black ski mask pointed a gun in my face and threatened me to hand over my phone, my wallet, my laptop, and everything else, and when I refused, he used the butt of his handgun to strike me across the face, in the cheek, or what some people call “pistol whipped” me before running away. And that has deeply traumatized myself and my family. Ever since, I’ve never dared to walk in the street of DC at night ever, and my family was extremely worried. So, Mr. President, thank you so much for what you’re doing right now because such incidents involve not just me, but also my family. If he had shot me, I could have died right there in the middle of nowhere without my family or my friends knowing at the age of, back then, I think 23— just starting my career here in DC, without even starting a family. But now I’m very blessed to have this opportunity…
Trump: You had a gun pointed at your head, and you probably figured that he’s going to pull the trigger because these are animals that don’t know what the hell— they couldn’t care less. The pulling the trigger to him is a very minor event, and I’m sure he’s done it before. So how did you— and you did refuse to give it, which would probably, maybe somebody would say that was not the right decision, right? But you refused. But I understand that, so and then he hit you real hard. It’s really amazing that you weren’t shot.
Tao: I’m very blessed, and that’s why having this opportunity to stand here to share my story today, one, I’m very grateful for God for allowing me to still survive to this day, but also to— Mr. President, thank you for now making DC safer for us, for our families, for my parents, on behalf of my parents, and now my my baby on the way. Thank you so much.
Trump: And there are other reporters and journalists, good people, and you don’t have to say it, but that have also been attacked, violently, and not violently, too. Pretty badly, and I bet you see a big difference in the streets right now, and this is only 12 days, but people are telling me they’re going out to dinner now that they haven’t… I have a lot of friends that are going out to dinner all the time now in DC, and they weren’t doing it 12 days ago. They would never even think. One of my friends went out five times. It was four times the last time I told, now it’s five times. He said, I love going out to dinner, and restaurants are starting to open again. A lot of them closed because, you know, they weren’t, nobody wanted to go into a restaurant. Nobody wanted to get to a restaurant or even sit in the restaurant. But you see a big difference now, don’t you?
Tao: I do. I do pass by Union Station every day on my way home, and I do feel a lot safer seeing the trucks right outside, seeing the National Guard troops members right outside. It does make me feel like I’m hopeful about DC again, and one day, hopefully, we can raise our family here.
The Gateway Pundit reported last week that Tao penned an op-ed recounting the incident.
READ MORE:
The post WATCH: President Trump Invites NTD Correspondent Iris Tao to Tell Her Story of Horrifying, Violent Broad-Daylight Robbery in Washington, DC During Cabinet Meeting – “Mr. President, Thank You for Now Making DC Safer for Us” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.