The man who has been hailed as a hero for wrestling a gun away from a shooter at a Waffle House last month said that the phone call he received from President Trump was “lackluster.”
“The conversation was a little lackluster, to be honest with you,” James Shaw Jr. told TMZ on Wednesday. “I know he’s very busy with what’s going on in the world. And like I said, I did this for no recognition at all, so I do thank him for calling me out of his busy schedule.”
He added that their talk was “brief but it was straight to the point.”
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Trump called Shaw on Monday, three weeks after the shooting that left four people dead.
The White House had praised Shaw previously and said that they had reached out about a possible meeting, but Trump had made no public statements about Shaw ahead of the call.
Shaw was widely praised for his actions to stop the shooting and has since raised nearly $242,000 for the families of the victims.
Soon after Shaw set up his fundraiser, reporter Yashar Ali set up a separate fundraiser for Shaw. Ali’s fundraiser, which had an initial goal of raising $200,000, has now raised nearly $222,000.
The alleged Waffle House shooter, 29-year-old Travis Reinking, has been charged on several counts, including criminal homicide.