How ex-US President Ronald Reagan reacted to sound of balloon popping after assassination attempt

Ronald Reagan's reaction to a balloon popping, years after surviving an assassination bid, is viral.

Published on: Jul 18, 2024, 13:52:15 IST

By Sanya Jain

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In March 1981, Ronald Reagan, who was then the president of the United States, survived an assassination attempt Six years later, he joked about it during a speech which is now being widely circulated online.

Ronald Reagan delivering a speech in 1987.

Ronald Reagan was exiting the Washington Hilton Hotel in 1981 when 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr fired several rounds at him. Some bullets struck his staff, and one struck Reagan himself, getting lodged in his lung.

The US president was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery to recover from a broken rib, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding.

Six years later, when Reagan was delivering a speech in West Berlin, the sound of a balloon popping – not unlike the sound of a gunshot – rang through the year. The president remained unfazed, giving the tiniest of pauses before joking about the sound. “Missed me,” he said, drawing loud applause and cheers from the audience.

Take a look at the video below:

Footage of Reagan’s unfazed reaction to the balloon pop was viewed nearly 6 million times on the social media platform X.

“Not even a flinch. Legend,” wrote one X user. “No such classy politicians in America now,” another opined.

The video from 1987 resurfaced on social media in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s assassination attempt.

Trump survived an assassination attempt this Saturday during a Pennsylvania rally. He was addressing a campaign rally when a shot fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks hit his right ear. Crooks fired eight rounds with his rifle, killing audience member Corey Comperatore and wounding Trump. Two other audience members were also injured in the attack.

The assailant, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, aimed at Trump's head. The bullet skimmed the former president's ear instead of hitting its intended target.

Former US president Donald Trump appeared in public two days after the assassination attempt with a bandage over his right ear.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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