Donald Trump stated during his first campaign that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose support.

Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Sep 29, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 8 support2 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 95%

The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026

Multiple independent outlets (Reuters, NBC, Politico, NPR, CNN, ABC) report Trump saying at a January 23, 2016 Sioux Center, Iowa rally, during his first presidential campaign, that he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters.

What was said

… And he said that depressing part of this, I was thinking about us, about our people. It's just like, God, we can get to a point where you're jailed, and you're still like, you know, "I love this guy. He jailed me." Was this first campaign? I can go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I won't lose an ounce of support. Like, he's aware of that, and I was asked by several, you know, diplomats from the EU, from Greece and Spain, about the Russian soul and why they love autocracy so much, you know, and I said, you know, the Russian soul is not different than other people are. …

The Bulwark Daily · Sep 29, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Reuters, NBC News, Politico, NPR, CNN and ABC all quote Trump at a January 23, 2016 Iowa rally saying he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any voters.[1][4][5][6][7][8]

Supports. Snopes reports the remark was widely reproduced accurately, and that it was part of a larger point about the loyalty of Trump's base, during his 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination.[2]

Supports. PolitiFact's review of 2016 political ads lists the Fifth Avenue remark as referring to the loyalty of his voters, corroborating the content and context.[3]

Context. Trump declined to clarify the remark when asked by CNN, and the AP/LA Times later reported it topped Yale's list of 2016 notable quotations.[7][9][10]

Sources

10 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 4 tier 2, 3 not rated

1Confident Trump says could 'shoot somebody' and not lose ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
2Donald Trump 'Fifth Avenue' Commentsnopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
310 most aired political ads, fact-checked - PolitiFactpolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
4Trump Says He Could 'Shoot Somebody' and Still Maintain ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
5Trump: I could 'shoot somebody' and I wouldn't lose voterspolitico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
6Donald Trump: 'I Could ... Shoot Somebody, And I Wouldn't ... - NPRnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
7Trump: I could ‘shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters’ | CNN Politicscnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
8Donald Trump Jokes He Could 'Shoot Somebody' Without Losing ...abcnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
9Trump 'shoot someone' boast tops 2016 list of notable quotesboston.com · not rated · cited for: context
10Trump's boast that he could 'shoot somebody' tops Yale list of 2016's ...latimes.com · not rated · cited for: context

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Said in 1 published post

The Bulwark Daily · Sep 29, 2026Post →

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