--- ---  # Donald Trump Says He 'Could Shoot Somebody' and Not Lose Voters  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 23, 2016 8:34 PM UTC  Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Dordt College, on Jan. 23, 2016, in Sioux Center, Iowa. Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Dordt College, on Jan. 23, 2016, in Sioux Center, Iowa.Evan Vucci—AP  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 23, 2016 8:34 PM UTC At a campaign stop in Iowa on Saturday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said [he could shoot someone](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/23/politics/donald-trump-shoot-somebody-support/index.html) in public and still not lose any voters. “They say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” [he said](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/23/politics/donald-trump-shoot-somebody-support/index.html). “It’s like incredible.” Trump said his supporters were smart and loyal, citing his strong poll numbers and criticizing his opponents as “soft” during the stop in Sioux Center, Iowa, according to reports by [multiple outlets](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-says-he-could-shoot-somebody-still-maintain-support-n502911?cid=par-time%5F20160123). After leaving the event, Trump wrote on Twitter that the speech went well. “Just left Sioux Center, Iowa. My speech was very well received. Truly great people! Packed house- overflow!” he said. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/690990909719052288) > [](https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/690985215691354112) Donald Trump: I 'Could Shoot Somebody' and Not Lose Voters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4191598/donald-trump-says-he-could-shoot-somebody-and-not-lose-voters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4191598/donald-trump-says-he-could-shoot-somebody-and-not-lose-voters/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says He 'Could Shoot Somebody' and Not Lose Voters","datePublished":"2016-01-23T20:34:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:23:23.137Z","description":"\"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody\"","url":"https://time.com/4191598/donald-trump-says-he-could-shoot-somebody-and-not-lose-voters/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99ffd9061b687612/69887a5eab6d77a4c06a815f/donald-trump13.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99ffd9061b687612/69887a5eab6d77a4c06a815f/donald-trump13.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump","caption":"Donald Trump","creditText":"Evan Vucci—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4191598/donald-trump-says-he-could-shoot-somebody-and-not-lose-voters/","name":"Donald Trump Says He 'Could Shoot Somebody' and Not Lose Voters"}}]}] ```