Did Donald Trump say that he doesn't care about his supporters and just wants their votes? Yes, that's true: Former President Trump said the phrase attributed to him on social media and beyond, but it took place in a context where Trump had just mentioned the "nice" breeze and that he didn't want "anyone dying" on him. The audience perceived it as a joke as people at Trump's rally laughed in response with the laughter being clearly audible in video recordings of the event.
The story appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on June 9, 2024. It opened:
Donald Trump: 'I don't care about you. I just want your vote. I don't care.'
Once in a while, Donald Trump slips up and tells the truth.'
This is what it looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Jun 11 13:21:33 2024 UTC)
In a six-second video, Trump was seen saying:
... 'cos I don't want anybody going on me. We need every voter. I don't care about you. I just want your vote. I don't care ...
The same six-second clip had been published by the Biden-Harris HQ account on X (archived here) earlier that day, June 9, 2024. Then it was picked up by late-night shows. For example, a slightly longer version of the video appeared on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on June 10, 2024 (archived here).
The footage was authentic, but the words in question were said in a larger context, as Trump was going through his campaign talking points about border security while also praising China during the June 9, 2024, rally in Las Vegas.
In the C-SPAN recording (archived here), this fragment begins at the 48:03 mark:
TRUMP: ... we want closed, very strong borders, we don't want drugs coming in. If you really want to get rid of drugs, you go with the death penalty but I don't think the country is ready for it. I would do it in a second. You know, every drug dealer, every drug dealer ... and everybody here, everybody here knows people whose family was devastated by the loss of a child because of fentanyl.
But if you went with the death penalty, you would have no drug problem in this country. Instant ... If it was a meaningful, if it was a meaningful, not a trial that lasts 400 years. Like China. I was with President Xi. I said, 'Do you have a drug problem?' 'No,' he didn't even know what I was talking about. He's got 1.4 billion people. I said, 'Do you have a drug problem?' He goes, 'No drug problem.' I said, 'How do you do that?' Essentially, he said, 'The death penalty.' We catch. They call it quick trial. They have a trial, and it's quick.
And, by the way, is that breeze nice?
AUDIENCE: Yeah!
TRUMP: Do you feel the breeze? 'cos I don't want anybody going on me. We need every voter. I don't care about you. I just want your vote. I don't care.
AUDIENCE: Audible laughter.
TRUMP: See, now the press will take that, and they'll say, 'He said, a horrible thing.' They'll say ...
The event took place on a very hot day (archived here), which gives some additional context to referencing the breeze, and what came after that.
It also should be noted that the C-SPAN transcript was not entirely accurate. Instead of "I don't want anybody going on me," it read "I DON'T WANT ANYBODY DYING ON ME."
The same claim was also reviewed by Snopes.
Other Lead Stories fact checks mentioning Donald Trump can be found here. Fact checks on claims about elections are here.
