BBC chief North America political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue has described his blindness as an advantage when interviewing a key witness to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. O'Donoghue, who is blind, interviewed Greg Smith live on television moments after the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on 13 July. Smith described seeing a man with a rifle on a rooftop and warning police, but the gunman fired before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
O'Donoghue later learned that Smith appeared 'a bit odd' to some, clutching a beer can and wearing a pro-Trump visor with fake hair. 'I wonder, if I could see, whether I would have given him the time of day… But I'm glad I did, obviously,' O'Donoghue said. He initially feared Smith might be fabricating a dangerous story, but the account proved consistent and has been corroborated by multiple videos.
The reporter, 56, was born with partial eyesight and lost his vision completely by age eight. He attended boarding schools for blind children but recalled a lack of support. His mother later confided that she had contemplated killing them both, which O'Donoghue called a brave admission. Despite being told at 21 that 'a blind person couldn't be a reporter,' he pursued a career at the BBC, rising from junior reporter to his current role.
Reflecting on the Trump interview, O'Donoghue said: 'The vision could get in the way, and … the words were the thing that really counted.' He hopes his reporting shows that 'barriers put in the way of disabled people do not need to be there.'
