Marc Fogel's mom was set to take stage with Trump at Butler rally before shooting
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) — The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump robbed Marc Fogel's mother of an opportunity to publicize her son's plight in front of a national audience.
Malphine Fogel, 95, said she was set to take the stage with Trump on July 13 in Butler County when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire, injuring the former president and two others, and killing Corey Comperatore.
She was sitting in the front row of the event's VIP section.
"I thought it can't be happening," Malphine Fogel said. "We heard the shots. The man who was behind us was killed."
She's been trying for years to get her nearly 63-year-old son out of a Russian prison. He was arrested three years ago for medical marijuana possession charges and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
After failing to get help from President Joe Biden, she told KDKA-TV before the rally that she was turning to Trump for help.
"I was going to be on stage with him and he was going to mention (Marc's) name," Malphine Fogel said. "We were going to put it out for the whole world to hear. Well, that didn't happen because we didn't get on stage."
She doesn't want to think about the danger she could have been in had she taken the stage, she said.
"I don't think about that because we don't know how it would have played out," Malphine Fogel said.
Mother of Marc Fogel meets with Donald Trump
It was a long road just to get to last Saturday. Before the rally began, she met with Trump.
"He was very affable, easy to talk to. And I have trouble walking and he said hang on to my arm," Malphine Fogel said. "He asked me who I was and I told him my son was a prisoner in Russia and he's been there for three years."
Trump told her that if he made it back to the White House, he'd get Marc Fogel out.
"I said that is what we need," Malphine Fogel said.
But at 95 years old, she knows she's running out of time. She wanted Trump to talk about her son during the rally to put pressure on the Biden administration to work out a prisoner swap.
"Leading up to it, I thought this is great, this is what we've been waiting for. Now, I'm not so certain it's gonna be so different from what it has been in terms of publicity."
Malphine Fogel has been working with Vicki Iseman, who has handled PR for her, to bring her son home. She joined Malphine Fogel at the rally and confirmed to KDKA-TV that the former president's aides told Malphine Fogel to be prepared for Trump to bring her on stage and that a mention of Marc Fogel was in his prepared remarks on the teleprompter.
Marc Fogel and Evan Gershkovich
Malphine Fogel took note of how on the same day she was speaking with KDKA-TV, Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in jail on espionage charges.
She thinks that will open up the U.S. government to bringing Gershkovich home in a prisoner swap. She hopes her son will be included in that trade.
She also reiterated that the Biden administration needs to classify Marc Fogel as being wrongfully detained.
President Biden addressed Gershkovich's sentencing on Twitter, saying: "From the very first day of my Administration, I have been committed to seeking the release and safe return of all Americans wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad. I won't rest until Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan are in the arms of their families."
The tweet made no mention of Marc Fogel